William Trevor's Last Stories is forthcoming from Viking.Three novels by "a master craftsman and a deep creative talent."-The Times (London) In his first novel, The Old Boys, a group of septuagenarians revive schoolboy conflicts in the election of the President of the Association. Now, however, the men possess a fiercer understanding of the things in life that matter-power, revenge, hatred, love, and the failure of love-and intrigue and deceit result. In The Boarding House, William Wagner Bird takes in boarders whom society would never miss-if it ever noticed they were around. With these misfits, Bird creates a world where people are identified by their quirks rather than by their character. Then he makes a fatal mistake: He dies. From the offices of The Love Department, Lady Dolores cures the heartaches of the lonely wives of Wimbledon with inimitable flourish and finesse. When the newest protégé, Edward Blakeston-Smith, is sent on a mission-to learn the secrets of seductive, scheming Septimus Tuam and stop him in his tracks-he learns about love and its friends and enemies. In these early novels, one of the acclaimed masters of twentieth-century fiction created the dark landscape and compassionate characters that have become hallmarks of his extraordinary career. "One of the very best writers of our era."-The Washington Post Book World "Mr. Trevor's sheer intensity of entry into the lives of his people . . . proceeds to uncover new layers of yearning and pain, new angles of vision and credible thought."-The New York Times Book Review