Book excerpt: Lisa Blower celebrates her characters with stories that they wouldn't want told. She makes the bleak funny, in a voice reminiscent of Alan Bennett, and strikes a new chord in regional and working-class fiction. With a sharp eye and tough warmth, Lisa Blower brings to life the silent histories and harsh realities of those living on the margins. The matriarch dominates these award-winning stories in Lisa Blower's debut collection. From the wise, witty and outspoken Nan of 'Broken Crockery', who has lived and worked in Stoke-on-Trent for all of her 92 years, never owning a passport, to happy hooker Ruthie in 'The Land of Make Believe' or young mum Roxanne in 'The Cherry Tree', she appears in many shapes and forms, and always with a stoicism that is hard to break down. The title is a Potteries saying that means it's looking a bit bleak, a little like rain.