Original writing is difficult to define but easy to spot. Award-winning author Rachel Cusk, one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists, has a style that is uncluttered by modern whims. It's crisp and clear but full of depth and nuance; dark and brooding but light and witty at the same time.

Michael lives in Bath with his skittish wife Rebecca and their strangely uncommunicative young son in a beautiful Georgian terraced house given to them by his in-laws--whose need to control other people's lives bears more than a passing resemblance to the family of an old university chum, Adam Hanbury. When Adam's larger-than-life, opinionated father develops prostrate cancer, Michael is persuaded to help with the lambing on the family's remote farm, Egypt Hill, where a menagerie of animals, wives and ex-wives, children and grand-children collide rather than co-exist with one another.

While there is little "plot" to speak of, this is a book about the complex relationships of families and the emotional needs of modern living. The stark writing manages to lay bare the souls of the main characters, providing rare insights. Never preaching, nor condescending, Cusk allows her reader to appreciate the multiple layers of personality and the hit and miss nature of human interaction--some of which makes no sense but works against the odds, and others which slowly but surely destroy everything in their wake. While Cusk will never appeal to those looking for one dimensional storylines with cardboard characters, this beautifully, sparingly written gem is sure to delight the discerning reader. --Carey Green