Bending Heaven

From rainy Paris, to Hyde Park and busy Manhattan, we are plunged right into other people's worlds as characters struggle with the unspoken secrets of relationships and what it means to feel "at home".

When newly-weds look after a plush house in Washington they get carried away redesigning a home that isn't theirs. In "First Sale" a boy helplessly watches his mother attempt a new start by selling off all their belongings; and in "Evidence of Old Repairs", a mother's need, both at home and abroad, is almost too much for her daughter to bear.

In New York a publicist almost loses the will to live, while in Seattle an author has a paralysing fear of exposure. These are graceful, varied and exciting stories where characters constantly attempt new beginnings, setting out with heartfelt resolutions that are sometimes humorous, often calamitous.

As the characters shift lives, loves and homes there are enduring predicaments - how do we reconcile the anguish of understanding ourselves all too well, and master the trick of balancing dreams against a lack of faith in the future?