Product Description

From the awkward strain of dissolving relationships to the revealing vagaries of chance occurrences upon ordinary people, the voices that inhabit "Dark Roots" speak eloquently of the hidden motivations that propel us all to act. Kennedy's characters hover at tipping points in their lives, moments in which apparently insignificant decisions turn out to have devastating emotional consequences and even, sometimes, the power of life and death. In just a few pages, Cate Kennedy captures whole lives with masterful narrative restraint - the regrets, the successes, the unintended ironies. She reveals how relationships can break down either slowly, through the accumulations of grievances, or suddenly, in a rush, with one false step. But she can also show how the love for a partner or a child can save us. "Dark Roots" is by turns heartbreaking, richly comic and, above all, unerringly human.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1205017 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

Review
"'Dark Roots announces the arrival of a major talent... Cate Kennedy has a near pitch-perfect voice and a feeling for the precise moment when stars move in the cosmos.' Peter Temple, Age 'Stunning... incredibly spare and gifted writing. This collection is a joy to read.' Sunday Age 'A revelation... dark, moody, funny and provocative, often in the same story.' Australian"

About the Author
Cate Kennedy is an award-winning writer who has twice won the Age short story competition. 'Cold Snap', which appears in Dark Roots, was published in the New Yorker. She is also the author of the travel memoir Sing and Don't Cry: A Mexican Journal and two poetry collections. She is currently at work on her first novel.