For the Londoners in this collection of short stories, the city is a challenging environment. A maze of brick, concrete and glass, it crowds people together, pushes them into places they don't want to go and incessantly reminds them of their smallness. Here, people are surrounded by neighbours but feel alone. They long for greenery but are confronted by grey. Cut off from others and cut off from nature, they measure seasons by the ebb and flow of emotion rather than by the passing of weeks and months. These city dwellers cope as well as they can with the problems they face. Their stories recount with gentle humour quirky incidents and unexplained events amongst the contradictions and absurdities of everyday life. An undignified tube ride to work, a landlord bent on eviction, and the opinion of drinking mates-these are the things that shape the lives of the Londoners in Seasons in the City. Some stories are uplifting; others are much darker. As they unfold, they reveal their heroes' concerns, insecurities, aspirations and, above all, obsessions. Although each separate story stands on its own, taken together they provide a kaleidoscopic impression of London, a portrait of the city seen through the eyes of those living there. London, after all, is the sum of its inhabitants. It is left to the reader to decide whether that sum suggests spring will triumph or if the city is headed for permanent winter.