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Householders
Linked short stories about families, nascent queers, and self-deluded utopians explore the moral ordinary strangeness in their characters’ overlapping lives.
A woman impersonates a nun online, with unexpected consequences. In a rapidly changing neighborhood, tensions escalate around two events planned for the same day. The barista girlfriend of a tech billionaire survives a zombie apocalypse only to face spending her life with the paranoid super-rich. The linked stories in Householders move effortlessly from the commonplace to the fantastic, from west-end Toronto to a trailer in the middle of nowhere, from a university campus to a state-of-the-art underground bunker; from a commune in the woods to a city and back again. Exploring the ordinary strangeness in the lives of recurring characters and overlapping dramas, Householders combines the intimacy, precision, and clarity of short fiction with the depth and reach of a novel and mines the moral hazards inherent in all the ways we try and fail to save one another and ourselves.
A woman impersonates a nun online, with unexpected consequences. In a rapidly changing neighborhood, tensions escalate around two events planned for the same day. The barista girlfriend of a tech billionaire survives a zombie apocalypse only to face spending her life with the paranoid super-rich. The linked stories in Householders move effortlessly from the commonplace to the fantastic, from west-end Toronto to a trailer in the middle of nowhere, from a university campus to a state-of-the-art underground bunker; from a commune in the woods to a city and back again. Exploring the ordinary strangeness in the lives of recurring characters and overlapping dramas, Householders combines the intimacy, precision, and clarity of short fiction with the depth and reach of a novel and mines the moral hazards inherent in all the ways we try and fail to save one another and ourselves.
- GenresShort StoriesCanada
224 pages, Paperback
Published September 14, 2021
5 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Kate Cayley
12 books29 followersKate Cayley is the artistic director and co-founder of For Stranger Theatre. The Hangman in the Mirror is her first novel for young adults. Her writing, including poetry and short fiction, has appeared in a variety of literary magazines. She is currently the writer in residence at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto, Ontario.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 15, 2021
There is no question that these stories are very well crafted, each complete unto itself, and flowing seamlessly in subsequent stories where characters re-appear.
Notwithstanding my appreciation of the quality of the writing, for whatever reason these stories just didn’t ‘click’ for me. I didn’t find myself particularly interested in either the storylines or the characters. And I will admit there were times where I found things rather confusing, which doesn’t help my overall assessment of the collection.
Notwithstanding my appreciation of the quality of the writing, for whatever reason these stories just didn’t ‘click’ for me. I didn’t find myself particularly interested in either the storylines or the characters. And I will admit there were times where I found things rather confusing, which doesn’t help my overall assessment of the collection.
September 21, 2021
In this beautifully written and honest book, Kate Cayley weaves together stories from different characters over multiple generations --past, present, and future-- and manages to find within each those truths, worries, and needs that connect us all.
September 7, 2022
What a mature and sophisticated short story collection. I underlined the hell out of it. The story “Pilgrims” is the one.
December 24, 2025
4.5 stars
November 29, 2021
Having read a few reviews of Householders by Kate Cayley, I started to view this book that Biblioasis sent me (bless them) as a hidden gem that only people ‘in the know’ were reading and writing about. A starred review in Quill and Quire cinched it for me – I had to see what all the underground fuss was about. As I dove in, I quickly realized there is no doubt this book of short stories is written by a talented voice we should all pay attention to; Cayley’s ability to create characters that fascinate is something to behold. I still feel like I need time to process each of the nine stories, but I didn’t want to wait too long to write my review and then forget about my favourite parts, so below are my initial thoughts.
Book Summary
A recurring storyline and corresponding characters appear in a few of the stories, which starts with two young women going on a road trip together, and one, Naomi, staying behind at their destination and joining a spiritual commune. Not quite a cult, they live off the land in a shabby house, selling crafts and farming their own produce, going without enough food, heat, and warm water for the majority of the year. After a few years on the commune Naomi leaves and takes her only daughter Trout with her, returning to Toronto to live with her parents. We follow Trout and Naomi until they are skirting the beginnings of a global pandemic, and Trout is forced to make a major decision about her mother’s care. This is all told over the course of a few separate stories. Another story touches upon the chaotic life of one wife with four children, desperate to connect with other women and mothers in her neighborhood but resentful of how different her life is compared to theirs. Another story is set in the (hopefully distant) future, where the wealthiest people in the world have barricaded themselves into a luxurious bunker after the climate crisis creates a mostly unlivable world, and they’ve brought a young and broke coffee barista with them for soon-to-be explained reasons.
My Thoughts
The majority of these stories are rooted firmly in reality, and while the bunker story isn’t unbelievable, it does make some dire predictions about our future state, and the ending contains a twist I never saw coming. All the stories, even the bunker one, are fairly inward-looking, even when major events are happening. One story is written from the perspective of a young man who is sent to care for a dying alcoholic and revered musician. We never learn this man’s name, but the musician is known as “Doc”, whom we later discover is one of the few secular musicians that is an accepted as appropriate music in the commune from the other stories – I loved these little linkages that wormed their way into the plots. This caregiver lives with Doc for a few months, and we don’t learn much about either of them, except for the rhythm of their relationship and the slow decay of the house around them. Even the barista wandering the halls of the bunker doesn’t dwell on the fact that it’s an apocalypses outside, all she can focus on is how bored she is. It’s as if the world speeds around these characters while they slow everything down for us in their head, allowing readers the space to take in both the plot and the writing at an equal pace.
The lack of dialogue allows for a generous number of pronouncements, both about the characters themselves or the thoughts they have about others. Despite the range of people portrayed, they all seemed relatable and fairly normal when we saw the world through their own eyes. One story I found scattered, “Handful of Dust”, was one I didn’t follow as closely because it focused too much on innuendo for my liking, but it’s the only story where I highlighted a particular quote because it so starkly reflected my own experience, and that of my friends:
“She leaned against the bar while we chatted, mostly about children, though she didn’t have any and I was afraid I was boring her, but children were the subject with which I felt helplessly identified” (p. 120 of ARC).
I know I’m not the only parent who has found themselves in this exact position – trying desperately to think of anything else to talk about, when all that comes to mind are topics that revolve around your kids, or stories that reflect you as a parent, or a mishap with another kid. I walk into a bar now convinced I’m the most boring person there (insert tired shrug here). Thankfully I have books to rescue me from painful small talk; what we are reading is always an engaging subject that most people are happy to participate in. Discussing a somewhat ‘underground’ sensation like this short story collection is sure to intrigue a few people, so for that reason alone you should give this one a try.
To read the rest of my reviews, please visit my blog:
https://ivereadthis.com/
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Book Summary
A recurring storyline and corresponding characters appear in a few of the stories, which starts with two young women going on a road trip together, and one, Naomi, staying behind at their destination and joining a spiritual commune. Not quite a cult, they live off the land in a shabby house, selling crafts and farming their own produce, going without enough food, heat, and warm water for the majority of the year. After a few years on the commune Naomi leaves and takes her only daughter Trout with her, returning to Toronto to live with her parents. We follow Trout and Naomi until they are skirting the beginnings of a global pandemic, and Trout is forced to make a major decision about her mother’s care. This is all told over the course of a few separate stories. Another story touches upon the chaotic life of one wife with four children, desperate to connect with other women and mothers in her neighborhood but resentful of how different her life is compared to theirs. Another story is set in the (hopefully distant) future, where the wealthiest people in the world have barricaded themselves into a luxurious bunker after the climate crisis creates a mostly unlivable world, and they’ve brought a young and broke coffee barista with them for soon-to-be explained reasons.
My Thoughts
The majority of these stories are rooted firmly in reality, and while the bunker story isn’t unbelievable, it does make some dire predictions about our future state, and the ending contains a twist I never saw coming. All the stories, even the bunker one, are fairly inward-looking, even when major events are happening. One story is written from the perspective of a young man who is sent to care for a dying alcoholic and revered musician. We never learn this man’s name, but the musician is known as “Doc”, whom we later discover is one of the few secular musicians that is an accepted as appropriate music in the commune from the other stories – I loved these little linkages that wormed their way into the plots. This caregiver lives with Doc for a few months, and we don’t learn much about either of them, except for the rhythm of their relationship and the slow decay of the house around them. Even the barista wandering the halls of the bunker doesn’t dwell on the fact that it’s an apocalypses outside, all she can focus on is how bored she is. It’s as if the world speeds around these characters while they slow everything down for us in their head, allowing readers the space to take in both the plot and the writing at an equal pace.
The lack of dialogue allows for a generous number of pronouncements, both about the characters themselves or the thoughts they have about others. Despite the range of people portrayed, they all seemed relatable and fairly normal when we saw the world through their own eyes. One story I found scattered, “Handful of Dust”, was one I didn’t follow as closely because it focused too much on innuendo for my liking, but it’s the only story where I highlighted a particular quote because it so starkly reflected my own experience, and that of my friends:
“She leaned against the bar while we chatted, mostly about children, though she didn’t have any and I was afraid I was boring her, but children were the subject with which I felt helplessly identified” (p. 120 of ARC).
I know I’m not the only parent who has found themselves in this exact position – trying desperately to think of anything else to talk about, when all that comes to mind are topics that revolve around your kids, or stories that reflect you as a parent, or a mishap with another kid. I walk into a bar now convinced I’m the most boring person there (insert tired shrug here). Thankfully I have books to rescue me from painful small talk; what we are reading is always an engaging subject that most people are happy to participate in. Discussing a somewhat ‘underground’ sensation like this short story collection is sure to intrigue a few people, so for that reason alone you should give this one a try.
To read the rest of my reviews, please visit my blog:
https://ivereadthis.com/
Sign up for my newsletter here: https://ivereadthis.com/subscribe/
Or follow me on social media!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ivereadthis/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ivereadthisblog
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ivereadthis
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD6E...
January 18, 2022
'Loved the cover of this collection of nine stories. Each holds a created reality which differs from
the world at large, from a hippie cult to an underground bunker during a pandemic. This creates tension in the characters who must decide whether to stay in the security of what they know is false
or venture back into the real world. A street art festival threatens to complicate a wedding on the same date, an artist lives an isolated life painting wild interpretations of her past life, a daughter must decide whether to leave her mother in a home going into lockdown or return her to her former home.
Some of the same characters thread through the stories which poses the question whether Cayley could have fashioned these into a compelling novel. Maybe next time.
the world at large, from a hippie cult to an underground bunker during a pandemic. This creates tension in the characters who must decide whether to stay in the security of what they know is false
or venture back into the real world. A street art festival threatens to complicate a wedding on the same date, an artist lives an isolated life painting wild interpretations of her past life, a daughter must decide whether to leave her mother in a home going into lockdown or return her to her former home.
Some of the same characters thread through the stories which poses the question whether Cayley could have fashioned these into a compelling novel. Maybe next time.
dnf
December 25, 2024Read the first three stories before setting this aside. Linked stories are my catnip, and while I liked the writing, at times these stories left me confused. This was particularly the case with "The Other Kingdom" which has a main character who changed her first name. She is referred to in the story by both and to make it worse, there are several time shifts. I also didn't see any connections among the first three stories, and with a total of nine in the collection, I expected at least a few breadcrumbs. The overall atmosphere felt bleak, too.
February 11, 2022
Not every story in a short story collection is made equal, some of them are great and others are simply passable and “Householders” is no exception to this observation. With that said, even the stories I didn’t particularly connect too were still interesting especially the ones that followed the same commune family. The religious confusion & disembodied, abstract not-belonging Naomi & Trout feel resonated with me. My favourite short was “A Beautiful Bare Room” as I am a sucker for introspective plots bordering on science fiction. Householders is worth a read. On another note, I love the cover collage, “Antelope with Honeycomb” by Allan Kausch. The cover is sort of what drew me to this book in the first place but the writing was the cherry on top.
September 29, 2021
So the first story alone is worth the price of admission. And the whole book is just a gem.
September 17, 2022
Better than most short story collections.
July 12, 2025
Each story reads like a novel. The writing itself is gorgeous, the characters complex. I’ll be thinking about this for a while.
November 19, 2021
Strangely, not the first Canadian book I've read this year featuring female characters who were super messed up by growing up in a hippie commune in the 1970s.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews