Dark Roots
Cate Kennedy
‘Cate Kennedy’s stories typically end with a sly emotional punch — hard and swift to leave the reader breathless.’
Genevieve Swart, Sun Herald
In these sublimely sophisticated tales, Cate Kennedy opens up worlds of finely observed detail. Her stories are populated by people at tipping points in their lives – moments that find them poised between a familiar past and an unfamiliar future. A cancer sufferer boards a plane with three kilos of cocaine in her luggage; a neglected wife plans an unsavoury revenge on her boorish husband; a married couple realise their too-tight wedding rings may symbolise wider aspects of their relationship. Heartbreaking, evocative and richly comic, Dark Roots unveils the traumas that incite us to desperate measures, and the coincidences that drive our lives.
Reviews
‘stunning … Each story picks you up, takes you out of your life and smack bang into the middle of another place and time where the troubles and joys are laid bare and stripped back to their essence with incredibly spare and gifted writing. This collection is a joy to read…’
Grace Sanderson, Sunday Age
‘a timely reminder of how good a short story can be.’
Matthew Lamb, Courier Mail (favourite reads 2006)
» All reviews for this title‘overall these stories have perfect pitch; they’re sophisticated yet unpretentious and sometimes funny … Kennedy has occupied them and imagined her way into them, and given them great depth.’
Anne Susskind, Bulletin
