Homesickness Stories
Homesickness Stories by Colin Barrett, published by Jonathan Cape in 2022, is a collection of eight short stories that delve into the lives of outcasts and misfits. Written in English and spanning 213 pages, this edition presents a vivid exploration of human experiences set against the backdrop of County Mayo and Toronto. Barrett’s storytelling is characterized by a blend of the abrupt and the absurd, capturing moments that range from the unsettling to the poignant.
Readers will find a diverse array of narratives that illuminate the complexities of existence, such as a quiet night in a pub disrupted by a fugitive and a funeral party that confronts the presence of ghosts. The stories reflect themes of isolation and the search for connection, showcasing Barrett’s unique voice in contemporary literature. This collection contributes to the broader landscape of literary fiction and world literature, particularly within the context of 21st-century Irish storytelling.
Official synopsis Publisher
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.
Praise for YOUNG SKINS
‘One of the best books of the past decade… The characters are edgy, often violent, locked into a world described in ways that are both harsh and tender’ Colm T ibin, Washington Post
‘Language, structure, style – Colin Barrett has all the weapons at his disposal, and how, and he has an intuitive sense for what a short story is, and what it can do’ Kevin Barry
‘Colin Barrett is a young man in the town of the short story, but it’s fair to say he has the run of the place’ Jon McGregor
‘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
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