From prize-winning short-story writer Cate Kennedy comes a new collection to rival her highly acclaimedDark Roots. InLike a House on Fire, Kennedy once again takes ordinary lives and dissects their ironies, injustices and pleasures with her humane eye and wry sense of humour. In 'Laminex and Mirrors', a young woman working as a cleaner in a hospital helps an elderly patient defy doctor's orders. In 'Cross-Country', a jilted lover manages to misinterpret her ex's new life. And in 'Ashes', a son accompanies his mother on a journey to scatter his father's remains, while lifelong resentments simmer in thebackground. Cate Kennedy's poignant short stories find the beauty and tragedy in illness and mortality, life and love.