Monica Ali's stunning second book is a collection of stories set in the Alentejo province of Portugal, linked by characters and by a vivid sense of place and time. Teresa is a beautiful young girl from the village resisting an arranged marriage. The Potts are a family of ex-patriots trying to cobble a life together, at odds with one another and the world. Two young tourists engaged to be married confront each other's weaknesses for the first time, while an older woman tourist fantasizes about never returning home.