In Mo Said She Was Quirky James Kelman, the Booker prize-winning author of How late it was, how late, tells the story of Helen - a sister, a mother, a daughter - a very ordinary young woman.

Her boyfriend said she was quirky but it was more than that. Some things were important. You had to fight for them. Only Helen wasn't as strong as people thought. She tried to be but didn't always succeed. Nobody does, not all the time.

Trust, love, relationships; parents, children, lovers; death, wealth and home. The ordinary stuff of life - but extraordinary too when you think about it. As Helen did, each waking hour, till that strangest of moments on the way home from work when this skinny down-at-heel guy crossed the road in front of her. Brian? Her long-lost brother? How could it be? But it was his shape, his very presence. Could it be?

So begins Mo Said She Was Quirky - James Kelman's inspired and absorbing story of twenty-four hours in the life of a croupier - an ordinary young woman, as ordinary, as unique, as each and every one of us.

Praise for If it is your life

'Like Kelman's best work, it is tender and funny in a way that may surprise' Daily Telegraph

'A collection by turns heart-breaking, profound and bitterly funny. It also amply demonstrates Kelman's skill in writing about women, his rich understanding of the psychological dance that goes on between couples and strangers' Scottish Herald

'Kelman portrays his world with bleakly beautiful honesty' The Times

James Kelman was born in Scotland. His story collections include Greyhound for Breakfast, The Good Times, The Burn, Busted Scotch, Not Not While the Giro and most recently If it is your life. His novel How late it was, how late won the 1994 Booker Prize; other novels include Translated Accounts, The Busconductor Hines, A Chancer, A Disaffection,You Have to be Careful in the Land of the Free and Kieron Smith, boy. In 2009 and 2011 James Kelman was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize.