A brooding uncle takes an au pair’s 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. An uncanny collection of short fiction about the unhomeliness of home: fractured families, domestic claustrophobia, and the unseen menace of the everyday.

When the door closed, it was dark -- Humming and pinging -- The egg -- Overnight stop -- Glory hole -- Nurture -- Seclusion -- Sleeping under the stars -- Jetsam -- Monsoon puddles -- It has happened before -- The yacht man -- The machines -- Wink wink -- If there's anything left -- Static -- Sometimes you think you are alone -- A small window -- The smell of the slaughterhouse -- Helicopter Jean -- Small animals -- Trees in the tarmac -- Late -- The pre-war house.