Let's call the whole thing off : love quarrels from Anton Chekhov to Z.Z. Packer

Love means never having to say you're sorry. No, love is in the air. No, love is the sweetest thing. No, it's soft as an easy chair. No, it's a stranger in an open car. No, it's a many-splendoured thing. No, it's the drug. No, it's like a butterfly. Oh, let's call the whole thing off. Love stories don't always involve hearts and flowers and walks in the park.

This sparkling collection of the world's greatest love quarrels, from Chekhov to Colette, from D.

H. Lawrence to Jhumpa Lahiri, features love stories for every mood and occasion.

Here are new lovers testing the ground, cosy couples enjoying a quiet squabble before bedtime, and exes intent on picking up where they left off.

Often love quarrels start with trivial matters, such as a bride's new hat in Dorothy Parker's "Here We Are" or a choice of bedtime book in Jackie Kay's "You Go When You Can No Longer Stay".

But it doesn't usually take long for the stakes to be raised.

Love is a risky business!