The Pre-War House

Description

A brooding uncle takes an au pairs passport. Years of tension between a father and a son erupt with violent consequences. A man disappears along a lonely mail route . . . and it has happened before. From the Man Booker-shortlisted author ofThe Lighthousecomes this uncanny collection of short fiction aboutthe unhomeliness of home: Fractured families, domestic claustrophobia, and the unseen menace of the everyday. With the same emotional tension and tightly controlled prose that garnered her first novel such accolades, Moore once again shines a light into the darkest corners of the human heart, moving deftly from flash fiction to novella, from insightful realism to chilling gothic horror.Praise forThe Pre-War HouseI envy Moores talent it was impossible to stay away long. Minneapolis Star Tribune[Theres] a quiet sense of sadness that dogs these characters. As they navigate their lives, Moore slowly unearths their essential fears, regrets, and unmet desires, producing a subdued and beautiful feeling of yearning that leaves the reader ruminating long after the final page. A masterful collection. Kirkus ReviewsThese stories possess an eerie stillnessMoore is a master of saying much with few wordsThe titular, final story seamlessly weaves together memory and family history. A few stories qualify as flash fiction, so readers might start thereand that should be all it takes to get hooked. Theyll also be intrigued by the stories endings, which all come with a little hitch. Although theses are not happy tales, they are satisfying reads. Moore is the real deal.BooklistDelightfully creepy and gut-wrenching. Winnipeg Free PressThe Pre-War House and Other Stories is threaded by a sense of unease that speaks to the uncertainty of lifes calm patterns. Often Moores stories upend suddenly by a danger like the steady tow of an undercurrent Moores writing is surprising and exact and culminates in the title story, the novella which brings the collection to a powerful crescendo.Arkansas InternationalJust as uncompromising and unsettling as The Lighthouse.The GuardianBeautifully crafted, rendered in a lean, pared-down style that accentuates the stark content.MetroThe tales collected in The Pre-War House pick at psychological scabs in a register both wistful and brutal.The Times Literary SupplementThere is an insistent, rhythmic quality to Moores writing, and a dark imagination at work.The Daily Mail