A person without pets & without children under four. A misfit man finds a misfit dog. Ray, aged fifty-seven, 'too old for starting over, too young for giving up', and one eye, a little bugger, smaller than expected, a good ratter. Both are accustomed to being alone, unloved - but they quickly find in each other a strange companionship of sorts.

She writes beyond the time we live in.' Colum McCannStruggling to cope with urban life - and with life in general - Frankie, a twenty-something artist, retreats to the rural bungalow on `turbine hill' that has been vacant since her grandmother's death three years earlier.

A glimpse into the process of one Ireland's best writers, handiwork is Baume's non-fiction debut, written with the keen eye for nature and beauty as well as the extraordinary versatilitySara Baume's fans have come to expect.

Taking place in a remote house in the south-west of Ireland, this rich and vivid novel spans seven years and speaks to the times we live in, asking how we may withdraw, how better to live in the natural world, and how the choices made or avoided lead us home.