Like a House on Fire

August 18, 2012
This is a heartfelt and moving collection of short stories that cuts right to the emotional centre of everyday life. With her trademark evocative prose, Cate Kennedy exposes the almost uncomfortably familiar world of Australian domestic life through its many phases. Spanning birth, marriage, death and all that falls in between, Kennedy dives into the private joys and sorrows of families and individuals. Stand-out stories include ‘Laminex and Mirrors’, in which a young girl who is saving up for a trip to Europe by working as a cleaner in a hospital strikes up an unlikely friendship with a patient; ‘Like a House on Fire’, which tracks the personal frustration and pressure on a relationship following a workplace injury; and ‘Seventy-two Derwents’, the heartbreaking story of a struggling family told through the remarkable voice of 12-year-old Tyler. Thrumming with tension and full of fascinating and believable characters, Like a House on Fire explores the connections between people, particularly within families, honestly and unflinchingly. It’s a beautiful, devastating and ultimately hopeful collection which will be much admired by fans of Kennedy’s acclaimed short stories and novel The World Beneath.

Meg Whelan is a freelance journalist and reviewer working at the Hill of Content Bookshop in Melbourne