Returning to Carthage

In his dazzling new collection, Israeli-Australian writer Ben Sharafski explores in six interconnected stories the underlying dramas of everyday life - from love to loss to betrayal - with insight, poignancy, and lyricism.

"Excellent! Desperately sad" - Les Murray (on Two Lives, Intersected)

"Filled with an almost tactile sense of place" - Natasha Watson

"A remarkable achievement" - Fergus McDermott

"A cryptic look at relationships and the struggle between compromise and temptation" - Sujoya Mukherjee

"I could not put this final story down and read until 3am" - Mark Porton

"Absolutely mesmerising" - John Gilbert

"Don't you just love it when you take a chance on a new writer, and the reward is way beyond your expectations?" - Andrea Johnson

"Inventive but still grounded in the real and burdensome. Sharafski masterly constructs moments and movements of self-awareness that grapple with the human condition within us and throughout history" - Mary Goldman

"These interlocking bittersweet stories are beautifully written, and I was surprised at how instantly I became immersed in the world of each story" - Marnie Fleming Ross

"What a beautiful collection of stories taking you through all the stages of life. I liked each one more than the last. What a lovely and emotional journey" - Dana De Silva

"The writing is simply terrific. I was hooked on his style" - Nilton Teixeira

"A beautiful tapestry of love, loss, guilt and the whole spectrum of human emotions. Bravo!" - Karine Van der Elst

"Sharafski's writing really pulls you in" - Emma Ricci

"This story elicited from me the very rare misty-eyed reading" - Wes Allen

"Sharafski's narrator moves back and forth between the past and the present and between history and current life, tying together all the threads that bind us with each other and with our pasts" - Jenny Lewis

"Such an engaging cycle of short stories... an almost cinematic quality" - Terry Wheeler

 "A revelation not easily rendered. You simply must experience it for yourself" - Kirsten Harris