'Madeleine Bourdouxhe is one of the more remarkable literary discoveries of the last few years' Jonathan Coe

These are stories of longing and dissatisfaction, of daily life ruptured by strange currents of feeling. A woman, wandering alone and heartbroken, is first attacked and then romantically pursued by a stranger. A maid wears her mistress's expensive coat to meet her lover, but finds herself more preoccupied by fantasies of intimacy with 'Madame'. A woman gives birth on the day foreign troops invade the city, and must flee with her newborn on the back of a truck.

Written in the aftermath of the Nazi occupation of Europe, and admired by the Existentialists and the Surrealists alike, these stories are now translated with extraordinary clarity by Faith Evans. With piercing insight and candour, Madeleine Bourdouxhe illuminates the conflicted hearts of the housewife, the mother, and the maid. These unforgettable tales of ordinary women are suffused with desire and melancholy, memory and fantasy, and lit by the furnace burning just beneath the surface of everyday life.

It's been over ten years since Big was killed. I grieved for him for a very long time. And then, as time passed, the icy wall of grief surrounding my heart began to thaw and I began to heal. I remarried, had more children, and continued to record and release more music. I continued to live my life. And while I can never discount the time I spent with Big, I've never felt the need to live in the past.

But sometimes, I still find myself thinking about Big being rushed the hospital, and I break down in tears.

It's not just because we hung up on each other during what would be our last telephone conversation. And it's not because I am raising our son, a young man who has never known his father.

It's partly all of those things. But mainly it's because he wasn't ready to go. His debut album was called Ready to Die. But in the end, he wasn't. Big never got a chance to tell his story. It's been left to others to tell it for him. In making the decision to tell my own story, it means that I've become one of those who can give insight to who Big really was. But I can only speak on what he meant to me.

Yet I also want people to understand that although he was a large part of my life, my story doesn't actually begin or end with Big's death. My journey has been complicated on many levels. And since I am always linked to Big, there are a lot of misconceptions about who I really am.

I hope that in reading my words, there is inspiration to be found. Perhaps you can duplicate my success or achieve where I have failed. Maybe you can skip over the mistakes I've made. Use my life as an example-of what to do and in some cases, what not to do.

It's not easy putting your life out therefor the masses. But I've decided I'll tell my own story. For Big. For my children. And for myself.

Faith Evans is from the old school of soulful RnB; she could add a lilt and some beats to a takeaway menu and make it sound tender. Its a truly marvellous voice, so honeyed and magnetic but thats the sort of damaging tenacity that leads a career down an alleyway. Her albums are often hit and miss affairs, marked by her penchant for taking chances. Its more than a penchant; shes never been afraid of honesty, using a different tack each time to explore a new range of emotions. It worked best on 2001s Faithfully, which gave her a voice away from the ghetto, replaced firmly into the territory of gritty, raw emotion through lively production and a mix between punch-packed neo-disco and sultrier, low-slunk ballads. Mixing styles as default doesnt pay off on Something About Faith for two main reasons, the first being the amount of guest stars shoehorned in for credence. Raekwon, Kelly Price, Snoop Dogg, Redman and Keyshia Cole are just some of the names present, but too briefly and anonymously to merit their fees. And the second reason is the lyrical content the album journeys through genres for fun, all the while forgetting to veer from its pedestrian substance.

Something About Faith is hugely varied in sound, perhaps a symbol of it being the first album Evans has released on an independent record label. But for each take, and each combination of producers, theres always another artist making more enticing sounds. Salaam Remis "broken-bottle", reggae-tinged production on The Love In Me sounds weak compared with his work with Jazmine Sullivan, while the jazz and gospel tinges on Change and slow jam Right Here slip by unnoticed, loitering in the middle of the road.

Sure, Evans vocals can leave ears trembling, but thats not shock enough. Something About Faith is an incredibly tame take on too many sounds, devoid of the personality that made her stand out. "Security, serenity, stability / The therapy, the memories, the unity / The loyalty, the honesty, the sanity / Familiar predictability," she lists on Real Things, which aims at personal and comes off faceless. Its lazy.

If the gloss is intended as escapism, it doesnt sound like she is having much fun. And at 16 tracks, Something About Faith is exceedingly filler-heavy. Its time this legendary singers voice regained its personality. --Natalie Shaw