This place you return to is Home

In these eleven stories, Kirsty Gunn explores the paradox of home as both a place of departure and return. Whether her subjects are a mother escaping with her three children to the timeless safety and protection of her childhood home ; children caught up in the ambiguities of their parents' disappointment and pain ; a married woman unable to free herself from her parents' love for each other ; or a young man caught on the hook of his father's money and power - these strongly contrasting stories directly confront our needs and fears with tremendous emotional power. "Rain" introduced Kirsty Gunn as a fiction writer of luminous and sensuous prose with a remarkably distinctive voice. "The Keepsake" confirmed her undeniable talent in a novel described as 'irresistible' (The Times) and 'perfect' (Elle). The thematically linked stories in "This place you return to is home" combine the originality of a poet with powerful storytelling skills that cut like steel through the ambiguous surfaces of family life.