Every Light in the House Burnin'

Longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction

Introduction by Kit de Waal
_______

My dad was a man - most dads are. But my dad had been taught or was shown or picked up that a man was certain things and a woman was others. He was head of a family - a breadwinner. He should go out to work in the morning and come home at night. He had to discipline children and occasionally do things around the home that required some degree of physical strength. A man did not have to be loving and affectionate. A man had to know everything and never be seen not to understand the world. A man would help around the house only when asked but a man always emptied the bins.

My dad was a man and he did what he thought was expected of him. But he couldn''t understand when more was demanded. ''What!'' he''d say if he had to take any of us to the dentist. ''Cha,'' if expected to wash up. And ''Oh my God!'' if my mum ever announced that she would not be in so he''d have to look after us.
_______

''Humorous and moving, unflinching and without sentiment''
Independent

''Well told, does not dodge complexity and rings true''
The Times