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‘A mesmerisingly powerful book’ SALLY ROONEY

Illuminating the lives of outcasts, misfits and malcontents, this is the darkly funny and moving second book from the award-winning author of Young Skins.

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 settle. A shooting sees an everyday call-out lead a policewoman to confront the banality of her own existence.
In his new collection of stories, Colin Barrett takes us to the barren backwaters of County Mayo, via Canada – always with an eye for the abrupt and absurd.

‘Superb… There is so much life in these pages’ DOUGLAS STUART

‘Fierce, tender…unforgettable’ BRANDON TAYLOR

‘Addictive, stylish and violently funny… Outstanding’ KEVIN BARRY

Publisher Review

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...these stories are his best yet -- Sally Rooney Full of humour and small-town Irish colour... His [Barrett's] second collection confirms him as one of the very best short-story writers in the business * New Statesman, *Books of the Year* * A masterwork - by turns hilarious and heartbreaking... What fierce, tender stories. Totally unforgettable -- Brandon Taylor The stories in Homesickness are crafted with skill and flair. Colin Barrett anchors the work with emotional accuracy and careful delineation of character, and then, using metaphors and beautifully made sentences, he lets his narrative soar -- Colm Toibin Lyrical and tough and smart... His stories are set in a familiar emotional landscape, but they give us endings that are new -- Anne Enright