There’s a lot of love in its many forms, as well as some heartbreaking sadness in this collection of stories by an Australian writer, set in southern Tasmania.

Anyone familiar with the town of Kettering, south of Hobart, and Bruny Island, will recognise the settings, just as they will see themselves, or people they know, in Manning’s finely drawn characters. Most of the stories are about people living and working in that area, except for those set in Germany and Hungary. Some people reappear in several stories, reinforcing a sense of community.

The stories about the stonemason, the school librarian, the family whose house burnt down on Bruny, the couple whose addicted daughter died … these are all powerful, but not nearly as hard-hitting as the two long stories that bookend the collection and give it its name. Manning has the knack of not only getting inside her character’s heads, but also being able to express their feelings in words.

The Smokehouse stories, first and last in the collection, are full of happiness, love, and heart-breaking grief. When a couple move from the Hobart suburbs to a property in the hills behind Kettering, it signals a complete change in their life, as well as that of their two daughters. The wife finds true love with their German-born neighbour, Ollie, who operates a smokehouse, but in doing so fractures the family. How her daughters come to know and love Ollie is heartwarming stuff, but the second story, set years later, is a torrid read.

Manning has either lived with, cared for, or loved someone with dementia or, she is an acute observer and listener. Anyone who has been in one of those three categories will read with painful recognition her account of a dementia patient’s symptoms and the carer’s exhaustion and emotions. This is powerful writing.

Reviewed by Jennifer Somerville