McCracken has a real talent for exploring what makes an individual unusual when they are entwined with another person, and her stories are sparkling gems of human eccentricity.

[McCracken] has a gift for spotting the comic potential in situations many of us have endured... Her prose is stippled with just-so observations.

[A] sly, emotionally complex collection . . . Each story opens to reveal a whole life spent within the web of a family, chosen or not. Full of gems, this collection is a winner.

McCracken is a totally assured performer: even seemingly throwaway perceptions are often memorably poetic, and there is a hint of melancholy under the comedy.

It's pitch perfect; funny, melancholy and alight with the kind of sharp observations that reveal the fault lines in relationships and family dynamics... McCracken cracks open the hearts of her captivating characters.

McCracken...has a gift for startlingly original turns of phrase and piercing observational writing. Her 12 stories are varied and imaginative, sparkling tales of human eccentricity.

Munro is unfaltering at changes of mood, moments when sweetness tips over into mistrust, or mockery, or disgust

It is a collection that attests, once again, to Ms Munro's complete fluency in the short-story form, her emergence as one of the most eloquent and gifted writers of contemporary fiction

A dark star is born

Some writers have it, and some don't. C. J. Tudor has it big time

This is a beautiful and moving collection, from one of the best story writers today.

Homesickness is an adroit, wry set of stories by an author who has an eye for the quirks of human nature.

With a sharp eye for the absurd in the ordinary, Barrett's stories impart gritty and touching realisations about life as it really is. Edgy, sharp and utterly original, Homesickness is an utterly compelling collection and Barrett is meticulous

Colin Barrett is a young man in the town of the short story, but it's fair to say he has the run of the place

Homesickness is another finely crafted collection... Crisply told, fond of an eye-catching flourish... the stories draw energy from the rhythms of west of Ireland small talk, added to Barrett's eye for striking detail...The scenarios are richly layered, with punchy payoffs.

Strange and haunting fiction. You could open Homesickness at any page and find sentences of vim and elegance, ringing dialogue...and similes to savour.

Homesickness presents us with a set of characters forever losing things: other people's dogs, girlfriends, the will to live. But in the course of these stories they find things, too: courage; a crumpled sort of wisdom; the will to live. Between the comedy, and the pure thrill of the language, there's a lot of sorrow and mental illness here, but the afterglow of the stories, which settle and stay with you, is one of moving regard for the flaws and wants we battle, flee, and bargain with every day of our lives

Vivid, punchy... Barrett delineates with verve the ways his characters struggle.

Worth the wait... few do it as well as Colin Barrett.

Barrett's... brilliant second collection confirms him as one of the very best short-story writers in the business.

Barrett's stories are, without exception, beautifully written, full of arresting imagery.

Bittersweet and chiseled...From gritty realism to oddball noir, this assured collection demonstrates the talent of a distinctive writer.

Richly descriptive...This sharply observant collection resists pigeonholing its recalcitrant characters.

A masterwork-by turns hilarious and heart-breaking, these stories shimmer. No story writer at work today thrills me more than Colin Barrett, whose characters feel immediately so familiar and true in their capacity to maim and love. What fierce, tender stories. Totally unforgettable.

Funny, devastating, slow-burning, these understated tales of misfits and misadventures in smalltown Ireland are written with a casual grace.

Superb.

Eight stories ... written with vim and elegance and more than deliver on the promise of Barrett's acclaimed 2014 debut, Young Skins.