Puerto Vallarta

2011 was a phenomenal year for the young American author, Jennifer Egan. Her novel, 'A Visit From The Goon Squad' became a run-away bestseller and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Now a collection of her short stories has been re-published by Constable and Robinson.

Entitled Emerald City, the stories are a pithy and sometimes poignant look at contemporary life in the United States. Young and middle-aged characters change, grow and regret in a series of tales that traverse the United States and the state of modern marriage, parenting and ambition. Egan is heralded as one of the best writers to emerge in the past decade and this collection underlines her ability to bring a spotlight on the particular and to reflect a nation in challenging times.

Today's story, Puerto Vallarta, is a portrait of a family, where the truth is not as it seems and where a daughter has to make a choice and so find her own freedom.

The Reader is Sasha Pick
The Abridger is Miranda Davies
The Producer is Di Speirs.