Three Kings – When Patrick is eight years old, his absent father returns unexpectedly for a brief but memorable encounter. Years later – recalling that meeting, and the revelations that followed – Patrick traces the events of his father’s life, laying bare a journey of grandiose plans, aching disappointments, and audacious self-delusion.

Mother’s Glass – Maureen Keenan, school dinner lady, is contacted out of the blue by Diana Jarvis, a successful estate agent, to say she is her long lost daughter, who was abandoned shortly after birth, because the mother could not look after her. Maureen grew up on a rough council estate in Essex, and ran away to London aged 15 to escape her abusive alcoholic parents, ending up in a squat, where she would give birth to the unwanted baby. Diana was subsequently adopted by a well-heeled, middle-class couple and enjoyed the comforts of an affluent upbringing. Having made contact with her birth mother, the two agree to meet in a café, where some awkward questions will be asked and not necessarily answered to everyone’s satisfaction. Will the bonds of blood prove strong enough to reconcile the two women, or will the stark differences in outlook, life experience and social class make this impossible?