Cate Kennedy: Like a House on Fire [2012] paperback

From prize-winning short-story writer Cate Kennedy comes a new
collection to rival her highly acclaimed Dark Roots. In Like a House on
Fire, Kennedy once again takes ordinary lives and dissects their
ironies, injustices and pleasures with her humane eye and wry sense of
humour. In 'Laminex and Mirrors', a young woman working as a
cleaner in a hospital helps an elderly patient defy doctor's orders. In
'Cross-Country', a jilted lover manages to misinterpret her ex's new
life. And in 'Ashes', a son accompanies his mother on a journey to
scatter his father's remains, while lifelong resentments simmer in the
background. Cate Kennedy's poignant short stories find the beauty and
tragedy in illness and mortality, life and love.