The six books that make up the shortlist for this year’s Stella Prize consider the problem of violence – both personal and cultural – in very different ways. The abusive ex-husband, the heavy boot of the law, the brutality of invasion, the pressures of isolation and loss.
But hearteningly, each book also has a bright thread of kindness, the richness of natural and built environments – and the consolations of poetry. Even when these narratives are desperately bleak, there is always a shard, at least, of light.
