Plain Pleasures: Jane Bowles

"It's the truth," the women said from their mattress "Everything is nice".

Alva, a widow, states a preference for plain ordinary pleasures - only to get drunk and flirtatious, and pass out in a strange bed when she is asked out for the evening.

Sadie, a spinster, goes to a holiday resort complete with pine groves, marshmallows and respectable clientele - to bring her nervous sister home, but instead comes to an eerie end herself.

Mary, a little girl, spends her days in a clay pit leading an imaginary army of hard-muscled men. But hen a strange boy invades her headquarters, Mary abandons her soldiers to follow him home.

Disturbing, unforgettable, totally unique - Jane Bowles' short stories explore the hidden lives of women that only appear ordinary.