Faber Stories is a series of short works published to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Faber & Faber.  Ishiguro’s story Come Rain Or Come Shine was first published in 2009 and now appears for a wider audience as a volume within Faber Stories.  It’s a slight and intriguing tale of seventy or so pages.  Ray, an unambitious and mostly unsuccessful language teacher in his forties, comes to stay with his two university friends, Charlie and Emily.  Charlie heads to the airport for a business trip almost as soon as Ray arrives, but not before confiding that his marriage to Emily is in trouble.  Ray is enlisted to help repair the relationship by acting so much his useless self that he makes Charlie look good by comparison.  Left alone with Emily for a day or two, will Ray succeed?

The story starts in a realistic style, but as it develops a slightly dream-like, surreal, and comic atmosphere takes hold.  Even with all his confidence and skill, Ishiguro can’t quite pull this off.  It’s entertaining enough but I was left with the feeling that he didn’t quite know what to do with a promising idea.