Lucy Caldwell's New Stories: Family, Memory, and a Touch of Fear

Northern Irish writer Lucy Caldwell returns with her fourth short story collection, *Devotions*. The book explores family life, careers in the arts, and how people manage their memories. It offers a subtle, natural continuation from her earlier works *Multitudes*, *Intimacies*, and *Openings*. In one story, "All Grown Up," a 40-year-old divorced man named Luke returns to his childhood home to sell it. As he clears the house, he feels pulled back into his past. He remembers his life and struggles with divorce, his mother's death, and a sense of being trapped. A brief affair with his ex-wife's sister only makes things harder. The story's title shifts between dark humor and a fragile hope.