Pretty Ugly, an oxymoron or a qualified adjective? Fourteen short stories exploring the origins and boundaries of ‘a person’. Each story is surprising, some are entertaining, some disturbing, one devastating. They all ask whether the continuity of personality depends on the person, on those around them, or on their surroundings.

Where do writers’ ideas of identity come from? Are they stolen, created? In one story there is an author writing to a successful formula, her adoring fans clamouring for more. But what happens to the stories she wants to write, the results of decisions that she wants to make by herself, for herself?

One of my favourites is a story about characters – those taken on by actors, created by authors. All of us are performing, determining how we should be seen – and some perform magnificently. The story brings in the ‘meta’ of a writer writing about writing. The Afterword to the anthology reveals how an author can always squeeze more out of their stories, their book launches, their criticisms, their accolades and bouquets – they can even make something out of mouldering flowers.

The children in the collection are those finding out the extent and definition of their families and how they fit into them. Those misunderstood by all, so turning to words. Those whose sense of security and reality is whipped away in a flash. Those caught up in thrall to the heroic lifestyle – to become abruptly aware of how some personas are a veneer caused by cruelty.

The reader too has their preconceptions abruptly cut through: is a cluttered house due to contraband or a hoarding disorder? What is the clutter expressing about the personality of the occupant? And what are young men mistreating a puppy expressing? Can a writer’s consideration of life’s “pulse moments” help?

So many great stories, great ideas. In some stories the influence of the environment on personality is pondered. What happens to a human psyche when the land is covered in windfarms and there’s no wildlife, or when the highlands are depleted, the carers moved off, the wildlife not cared for.

And then there’s All Gone, a story that I read with dread. A woman who finds solace alone “she would go into the cupboard to sit on that little stool and close the door and stay there, quietly, on her own, for some time in the dark”. A woman whose world diminishes to only her needs, isolated, only wanting a world that reflects herself. A terrifying metaphor for the rise of extremism, and the demise of people capable of healthy inclusive relationships.

I loved reading Pretty Ugly. Some of the stories have been previously published, and their collection in this anthology brings out common themes and emphasises Kirsty Gunn’s beautiful rhythmic writing. Highly recommended.