Mothers

'To read Mothers is to take a journey through a landscape familiar enough to console, yet strange enough to unsettle. The thrills and dangers of such a journey lie with the unexpectedness of life's undercurrents and our uncertain, unknowable selves. Chris Power's quiet yet compelling touch is reminiscent of Alice Munro and Peter Stamm.' - Yiyun Li, author of A Thousand Years of Good Prayers and The Vagrants Chris Power's stories are peopled by men and women who find themselves at crossroads or dead ends - characters who search without knowing what they seek. A woman uses her mother's old travel guide to navigate nowhere; a stand-up comic with writer's block performs a fateful gig at a cocaine-fulled bachelor party; on holiday in Greece, a father must confront the limits to which he can keep his daughters safe. From remote and wild Exmoor to ancient Swedish burial sites and hedonistic Mexican weddings, these stories lay bare the emotional and psychic damage of life, love and abandonment. Mothers proves the vital importance of short fiction and announces the debut of an exceptional literary voice.