Nightjar

First collection from a prizewinning, new-generation American short story writer- exquisite, atmospheric, rural tales with an uncanny edge

From the critically acclaimed, prizewinning author of Idaho comes a stunning collection of stories that explore the rural landscape of the far Northwestern US, and how unexpected intuitions forever alter the lives of ordinary people.

Five years after moving into the isolated house in rural Oregon where her husband lived as a child, the protagonist of 'Victor's Room' begins to doubt her husband's account of his family's past. In 'Round Lake', a young woman's plans to meet a lover in Tokyo are upended when she learns a startling truth about her mother's death. In 'Owl', a fur trapper reckons with the dreadful origins of his marriage after his wife is brutally injured by four adolescent boys.

Haunting and psychologically provocative, and set against the vivid backdrop of the rural Northwestern US, Nightjar illuminates the secret, instinctive knowledge that lies just under the surface of our awareness.

Praise for Idaho

'Writing that has the cool sharpness of lemonade . . . Unflinching, unfrilly, multi-layered storytelling that is both beautiful and devastating' Rachel Joyce

'You're in masterly hands here... will remind many of the great Idaho novel, Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping . . . wrenching and beautiful' New York Times Book Review

'From the first page it is clear that Ruskovich's poetic, spare writing would be enough to compel on its own, but this extraordinary story of a violent event that decimates a young family in northern Idaho is the true engine here . . . enthrals from the outset' Lucy Clark, Guardian