From the shattered streets of postwar London to the crumbling grandeur of a decaying mansion overlooking a West Country town; from a remote village with a quirky inhabitant to a fetid wintry dock where a broken man contemplates suicide, 'Stella and Rose' is a collection of short stories, of redemption, of hope, and also of consequence. The title story, 'Stella and Rose', tells the story of two sisters struggling to survive in postwar London, and the unusual approach that one of them takes to achieve it. 'The Painted Door' is a tongue-in-cheek tale of two handymen - father and son - and the opportunity of a lifetime. The third story, 'Why Me?', on the face of it, is about a man taking a stroll with his dogs on the common one night - but there is much more to it than that. 'Out of the Ashes' begins with a man who has lost everything standing in despair on a wintry dock, contemplating a cold, watery end. The final tale, 'Rutter's Rescue' is a Rutter story. There are seven novels about Detective Chief Inspector Julie Rutter. This is an addition to that canon.