Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life (Даль Роальд); Penguin, 2011

The sweet scents of rural life infuse Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life, a collection of Roald Dahl's country stories - but there is always something unexpected lurking in the undergrowth . . . Whether it is taking a troublesome cow to be mated with a prime bull; dealing with a rat-infested hayrick; learning the ways and means of maggot farming; or describing the fine art of poaching pheasants using nothing but raisins and sleeping pills, Roald Dahl brings his stories of everyday country folk and their strange passions wonderfully to life. Lacing each tale with dollops of humour and adding a sprinking of the sinister, Dahl ensures that this collection is brimful of the sweet mysteries of life.