'Eighteen-year-old Aaron is charismatic, resourceful and addicted to heroin. His mum has kicked him out of home in a last-ditch move to help him get straight, and he wanders the streets of South Melbourne, living on his wits and sleeping rough - all the while chasing drugs, dreams and love.
'Desperate to fund his addiction, Aaron climbs into the car of The Man, a distinguished elderly gentleman willing to pay for a certain kind of relationship. This regular cash could be the lifeline Aaron needs to start again, but The Man keeps raising spectres from Aaron's past that he'd rather forget. As Aaron gathers the courage to confront the events that derailed his life, his rage grows – and the consequences could be fatal.
'So Close to Home is a pacy, gritty and captivating novel exploring homelessness, power dynamics and the ties that bind. Social worker, debut author and winner of the prestigious VPLA for Unpublished Manuscript Mick Cummins has created a striking, emotionally complex and unnervingly tense narrative that poses one simple question: who can we ever truly rely on?' (Publication summary)
'A powerful and authentic tale of drug addiction.'
'In playwright and social worker Mick Cummins’ debut novel, So Close to Home, we meet eighteen-year-old Aaron Peters in the throes of heroin withdrawal. An ‘incoming tide of pain’ causes him to shiver in warm rooms; noise becomes unbearable, drowning out the possibility of coherent thought. The novel continues to introduce us to a cast of supporting characters, who each flit in and out of Aaron’s life. The constant is his mother, Vicky, a hairdresser who we learn has kicked her son out of the family home because of his drug use. They see each other on occasion; Cummins sketches out tender scenes where Vicky cuts Aaron’s hair or washes his clothes. Then there’s Samantha, a schizophrenic ‘hanger-on’ who is partnered to Dave, Aaron’s neighbour at the boarding house where he resides. Dave is also a heroin user, as is Zoe—a single mother fighting to regain custody of her child.' (Introduction)
' The man who wants to pay Aaron, an 18-year-old heroin addict, for sex, is known simply as “The Man”. He is closer to 70 than 60, has black hair, tailored suits and an expensive car. “Everything about him says money, real money and opportunity” – or so thinks the teen who accepts the deal, against the grain of every hope and want aside from his need for drugs and the glorious, temporary extinction they provide. ' (Introduction)
' The man who wants to pay Aaron, an 18-year-old heroin addict, for sex, is known simply as “The Man”. He is closer to 70 than 60, has black hair, tailored suits and an expensive car. “Everything about him says money, real money and opportunity” – or so thinks the teen who accepts the deal, against the grain of every hope and want aside from his need for drugs and the glorious, temporary extinction they provide. ' (Introduction)
'In playwright and social worker Mick Cummins’ debut novel, So Close to Home, we meet eighteen-year-old Aaron Peters in the throes of heroin withdrawal. An ‘incoming tide of pain’ causes him to shiver in warm rooms; noise becomes unbearable, drowning out the possibility of coherent thought. The novel continues to introduce us to a cast of supporting characters, who each flit in and out of Aaron’s life. The constant is his mother, Vicky, a hairdresser who we learn has kicked her son out of the family home because of his drug use. They see each other on occasion; Cummins sketches out tender scenes where Vicky cuts Aaron’s hair or washes his clothes. Then there’s Samantha, a schizophrenic ‘hanger-on’ who is partnered to Dave, Aaron’s neighbour at the boarding house where he resides. Dave is also a heroin user, as is Zoe—a single mother fighting to regain custody of her child.' (Introduction)
'A powerful and authentic tale of drug addiction.'
