Between Ireland and England and the United States, between remote farms and city streets, between the simplest and the most sophisticated, between the childish and the mature, between proud feminism and nauseating misogyny, between prosperity and poverty – to all this rich human and social range, Irish author Claire Keegan manages to give an authentic, moving and unforgettable voice. But as far apart as the sixteen stories in the collection “Antarctica” are, they all have a bone-chilling common denominator: horror. Overt or covert, exploding before readers or gnawing beneath the surface, expected or landing like a bucket of ice water on the head – Keegan’s work invites us to visit a world where we have no real control over the blows of fate. And within all this Antarctica – a frozen taiga, embedded with all kinds of ruptures in human bonds – Keegan also manages to see beauty, optimism and moments of compassion, strength and inner truth. Until the moment when...