The Pre-War House and Other Stories

Moore entered the literary stage with a bang with her first novel, The Lighthouse, which was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2012. Lest one think she arrived out of nowhere, the stories in this collection, dating from 2002 to 2013, demonstrate her development and skill. Moore is a master of tension and disquiet. On the surface, her characters appear ordinary: mothers, fathers, daughters, students, wives, and husbands. Yet all have secrets—infidelity, alcoholism, hidden families, tragic accidents, desertion, and violence—and the past looms large. In "Nurture," for instance, the scars on Mark's hand embody his emotionally and physically troubled relationship with his parents. Many of the stories focus on the role houses play in the characters' lives. Some become prisons, as in the particularly scary "Small Animals," or coffins, as in "When the Door Closed, It was Dark." Moore's writing, crisp and clear, and similar to Rachel Cusk (Transit), pulls readers easily into her world.