The stories in Julian Barnes long-awaited third collection are attuned to rhythms & currents: of the body of love & sex illness & death connections & conversations. A divorcee falls in love with a mysterious European waitress; a widower relives a favourite holiday; two writers rehearse familiar arguments; a couple bond fall out & bond again over flowers & vegetable patches. & at a series of evenings at Phil & Joannas the topics of conversation range from the environment to the Britishness of marmalade from toilet graffiti to smoking as we witness the guests lives in flux. Ranging from the domestic to the extraordinary from the vineyards of Italy to the English seaside in winter the stories in Pulse resonate & spark.