Sorrow and Bliss

by Meg Mason

‘Per the original Greek definition of course, which is utterly unrelated to the way members of the public use it to describe how they feel recounting their school days.’ Peregrine looked at the clock and put money from his breast pocket on the counter. ‘Nostos, Martha, returning home. Algos, pain. Nostalgia is the suffering caused by our unappeased yearning to return.’ Whether or not, he said, the home we long for ever existed.

‘First novels are autobiography and wish fulfilment. Evidently, one’s got to push all one’s disappointments and unmet desires through the pipes before one can write anything useful.’