The landscape of California fills this lush, lyrical debut short-story collection from poet Adam O’Riordan: eight slick stories journey from isolated towns to the bustle of Venice Beach, and down the Pacific Coast Highway. But most emotionally transporting are the inner journeys, in a collection whose epigraph is from Christopher Isherwood, calling California a “landscape which relentlessly reminds the traveller of his human condition and the circumstances of his tenure upon the earth”. Tiny, telling details portray the passage of time, and the poignancy of people losing their place in the world, such as a son recalling “the web of veins” in his grieving father’s eyes.
The title refers not only to an actual fire, for the emotional temperature of these evocative stories is often scorching - from an artist remembering a torrid affair to characters suffering the consequences of burning their bridges. At its finest, this collection coolly captures the heat of desire.
• The Burning Ground by Adam O’Riordan is published by Bloomsbury (£16.99). To order a copy for £13.49 go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99
