Longlisted for the 2016 Giller Prize

The stories in The Two of Us focus on pairs, couples, dyads: intense one-on-one relationships. Lovers, spouses, siblings, hairdresser and client, mother and baby, teacher and pupil, girl and fox—these are the characters who animate Kathy Page's stunning new collection. While undergoing medical tests, tending the garden, starving themselves, touring museums, travelling, considering suicide, and falling pregnant, they drive each other towards moments where the true shapes of their lives are glimpsed. With humour, tenderness, and occasionally ruthless observation, Page offers us a sense of who they—and we—might become.

United by her characters' primal desire for intimacy, these stories reflect our yearning for meaningful connection. In doing so, The Two of Us strengthens Kathy Page's reputation as one of the most powerful writers at work today.

Kathy Page is the author of seven novels, including Alphabet(an Indie Next Great Read of 2014, Kirkus Best Book of 2014, and Shelf Awareness Shelf Discovery Pick), The Story of My Face (longlisted for the Orange Prize in 2002), and The Find (shorlisted for the ReLit Award in 2011), as well as many short stories, previously collected in As In Music. She recently co-edited In the Flesh (2012), a collection of personal essays about the human body, and has written for television and radio. Her 1992 novel Frankie Styne & the Silver Man has made its American debut as a Biblioasis ReSet Book. Born in the UK, Kathy has lived on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia since 2001.

Praise for The Two of Us

"Kathy Page has often been described as a consummate stylist, a master of craft, a writer's writer. All of which is true... and yet none of these descriptions is sufficient to acknowledge the emotional effect her writing is capable of conveying... [Page has the] ability to convey large swaths of emotion in just a few simple gestures; she runs circles around authors who work twice as hard for half the reward." —The Globe and Mail

"Deceptively expansive short stories...her ability to find little frissons of shock or recognition in situations just this side of mundane marks her as a significant miniaturist..."—Quill & Quire

"The Two of Us contains stories about pairs, couples, dyads?mainly intense one-on-one relationships... [and] her duos are all united by a primal desire for intimacy."—BC Booklook

"...refreshing and true to life."—McGill Daily