This second collection of short stories by Geraldine M. North examines contemporary life primarily in the United States, where Geraldine has lived for decades and has raised her family. But a handful of the nineteen stories in The Empty Bird Cage return to her native Australia, where Geraldine lived as a girl and young adult. This collection follows Geraldine’s first book of short stories, Butcher Bird, published in 2016.

According to W.D. Wetherell, author of Where We Live Geraldine North’s love for the short story, her belief in the form and what it can reveal to us of life, underlies every word of her marvelous new collection. By seeing her characters so clearly, with such empathy and understanding, she makes each of them matter to us. Read these stories carefully, patiently, trustingly, for they have much to teach us.