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Penelope Lively Ponders Pompeii — And Other Stories — In 'The Purple Swamp Hen'

Award-winning novelist Penelope Lively hasn't written short stories in decades, but, she says, the form suddenly came back to her, for a collection that ranges from Pompeii to the modern day.

One of the world's most lauded novelists has produced her first collection of short stories in decades. is by Penelope Lively, who won the Man Booker Prize in 1987 for and had a bestseller in . Her latest is a collection that looks at life in ancient Pompeii, and modern-day western metropolises. They are often short, even for short stories — and subtly simple,

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