Winter Close

'Sitting on my balcony at dusk, Christmas lights already winking from the windows of the Abels' and the Nguyens' and our street party only a week away, it would be easy to become sentimental about the Close. The curious collection of people who live here form the closest thing any of us has to a domestic herd . . .'

Winter Close, a nondescript cul-de-sac in the suburbs, is home to a vibrant, eclectic group of residents. For Tom, a divorced counsellor living alone, these residents have become his people. That doesn't mean they're his friends - like family, you can't choose your neighbours.

Tom takes an active interest in all of his neighbours' lives, although he is conscious not to interfere or pry into their private lives. He does, however, strike up a particular friendship with Alex, the pretty young mother whose husband appears to be on remand, and he has an ongoing friendship with Rich and Ruth, his sophisticated, apparently perfect next-door neighbours.

But are the residents really that close? When disaster strikes and facades are demolished, the residents of Winter Close start to discover the truth about each other, and themselves.

A penetrating look at suburbia and the social relationships people form to survive in the modern world.