After is haunted by a traumatic memory. A woman re-enters the life of a man after fifteen years - for vengeance? for reconciliation? Or is her return only imagined? Gabriel Josipovici's taut novel draws the reader deep into a relationship, the volatile mix of guilt, memory and desire. Tension builds to a violent climax that shatters illusion.

Making Mistakes explores the ironies of relationships more playfully. In a reworking of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, two couples change partners - and change again - with the connivance of a modern Don Alfonso and his Despina. The cost to the couples of discovering their true desires is high; as in Mozart, things end happily (at least for the moment). The lovers learn that one does not make mistakes, one makes choices.

Both novels reveal Josipovici's celebrated wit and precision, character and narrative revealed through dialogue. Through tense eroticism and sparkling comedy, each explores complexities of twenty-first-century life.

Cover painting: Sisters with Albums (2007) by Andrzej Jackowski. Cover design by David Lane.