Returning to Carthage by Ben Sharafski

 

This book! It’s too early in the day for a glass of wine so I will go and get another cup of coffee while I compose myself.

It is a collection of related short stories telling of one man’s progression through his emotional life but it is also more than that. Ben Sharafski’s writing reminds me of Alex Miller’s: intellectual, informative and at the same time intensely personal.  He writes of the travels and romantic relationships of a young, single man; a wedding which brings together two different cultures and the dramatic histories behind the two now linked families; and the true, pure love of a man for his children and his parents. As a mother of two children, now grown men, I was profoundly affected by Ben’s powerful words.

The stories range through Sydney, Laos, Japan and Israel and, historically, Manchuria and Russia and are richly atmospheric and deeply emotional. I can’t recommend this book highly enough and I hope I will see more of Ben Sharafski. 5 out of 5, obviously!

In summary: richly atmospheric and deeply emotional stories from a man’s life.

Published by Lewis & Greene