"McNamara’s work has a fierce, vital beat, her stories robust yet finely-worked, her voice striking in its confidence and originality. She writes with sensuous precision and a craft that is equally precise. This is fiction that can stand up in any company." – Hilary Mantel

A Japanese soprano sets sail for arid, haunted Corsica where she seeks her lost voice. A nude woman at the window of a Hong Kong hotel watches her lover dine in an adjacent building, but is her desire faltering? With a young son and her photographer partner, a journalist traverses Mali to interview an irascible musician. A son relives his mother’s last hours before a hiking accident in the Italian Dolomites, while in London a grieving family takes in an ex-soldier from the Balkan wars, unaware of the man’s demons.

The Cartography Of Others takes us from fumy Accra to suburban Sydney, from scruffy Paris to pre-fundamentalist Mali. Each bewitchingly recounted story conveys a location as vital as the fitful, contemplative characters themselves. Lives are mapped, unpicked, and crafted across vivid, lingering terrains.

"Catherine McNamara's haunting stories map landmarks of psychological encounter. Hers is an international canvas, marking the points where contemporary lives cross with sensuality and finesse. Beautiful work." – Cathy Galvin

"McNamara does things with words (most) other writers cannot. Her stories are sensual and assured. Not a writer to be ignored."
– Tom Vowler

"Catherine McNamara's writing is superb, this latest collection presents a unique way to talk about displacement and sensuality." – Eric Akoto