Winter Close

Sydney: Hodder, 2002. Used. Winter Close, a small, undistinguished cul-de-sac is home to an eclectic, vibrant group of people: the dubious Chika, eccentric old Mrs Spenser, the self-conscious Abels, the mysterious Stuthridges and the laid back Upton and Sexy O'Good just to name a few.For Tom, a divorced counsellor living alone, Winter Close is his 'herd', the people he cares about. According to Tom, neighbours are like family, you can't choose them and you don't always like them, but you're bound to them.Tom is pleasant to his 'family' but conscious not to pry into their lives. It comes as a shock then to discover that his reserved, introverted manner may have isolated him from the rest of the residents. in fact he might not know them as well as he thinks.As Tom starts to see his neighbours for the people they are, rather than the people he imagined they were, he starts to drop his own guard and discover himself.