- 10+ in stock
Spotlighting outcasts, misfits and eccentrics, this second collection of spellbinding short stories from the author of Young Skins mixes character-driven storytelling with flashes of the memorably absurd and surreal.
From the prize-winning author of Young Skins, comes Homesickness - a quietly caustic, startlingly beautiful and wonderfully wry new short story collection.
In these eight stories, Barrett takes us back to the barren backwaters of County Mayo, via Toronto, and illuminates the lives of outcasts, misfits and malcontents with an eye for the abrupt and absurd. A quiet night in the neighbourhood pub is shattered by the arrival of a sword wielding fugitive. A funeral party teeters on the edge of this world and the next, as ghosts won't simply lay in wake. A shooting sees an everyday call-out lead a policewoman to confront the banality of her own existence.
A true follow-up to his electrifying debut collection, Homesickness marks Colin Barrett out as our most brilliantly original and captivating storyteller.
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
ISBN: 9781787333819
Number of pages: 224
Weight: 226 g
Dimensions: 216 x 135 x 16 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'This is a mesmerisingly powerful book, full of the strangeness and beauty of life. I've learned so much from Colin Barrett's work as a reader and writer, and I think these stories are his best yet' - Sally Rooney
'Homesickness is a masterwork - by turns hilarious and heartbreaking, these stories shimmer. No story writer at work today thrills me more than Colin Barrett, whose characters feel immediately so familiar and true in their capacity to maim and love. What fierce, tender stories. Totally unforgettable' - Brandon Taylor
'Addictive, stylish and violently funny stories, with riches on every page - an outstanding collection' - Kevin Barry
'Colin Barrett's sentences are lyrical and tough and smart... His stories are set in a familiar emotional landscape, but they give us endings that are new' - Anne Enright
'With a sharp eye for the absurd in the ordinary, Barrett's stories impart gritty and touching realisations about life as it really is. Edgy, sharp and utterly original, Homesickness is an utterly compelling collection and Barrett is meticulous' - Elaine Feeney
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