Patrick Cullen is an emerging Australian writer whose work has received accolades from high calibre writers such as Robert Drewe and Frank Moorhouse. This debut is a novel told in twelve stories about three couples living in adjoining homes in Newcastle. The title, ‘What Came Between’, indicates the decade between the Newcastle earthquake and the closing of the steelworks, but for each couple it means so much more.

Sarah and Paul, first to be introduced, are desperate to start a family but after several miscarriages they are losing hope and their relationship is suffering. Next door, older couple Ray and Pam fear Ray will face unemployment if rumours of the Steelworks closure are true. We meet the third couple, university students Lucas and Cate at the beginning of their relationship.

Cullen writes with great affection about people and place, and imbues each story with tiny details that invite the reader literally into the characters’ homes and lives. He also possesses a great sense of timing which means revelations from characters and plot twists pack a punch. This is a book well worth savouring over winter evenings.