Description
Book SynopsisThe characters in David Constantine’s fifth collection are all in pursuit of sanctuary; the violence and mendacity of the outside world presses in from all sides – be it the ritualised brutality suffered by children at a Catholic orphanage, or the harrowing videos shared among refugees of an atrocity ‘back home’. In each case, the characters withdraw into themselves, sometimes abandoning language altogether, until something breaks and they can retreat no further. In Constantine’s luminous prose, these stories capture such moments in all their clarity; moments when an entire life seems to hang in the balance, the past’s betrayals exposed, its ghosts dragged out into the daylight; moments in which the possibility of defiance and redemption is everything.
Trade Review'This fifth book of superb short fiction confirms an extraordinary talent' - The Times; 'It will reward the effort' - The Irish Times; 'Inventive... incredibly moving' - The Daily Mail; 'Subtlety marks every tale in this intelligent, unshowy and often moving collection.' - Ian Sansom, The Guardian
