From the Orange Prize winning author of Home Acclaimed on publication as a contemporary classic, Housekeeping is the story of Ruth and Lucille, orphansgrowing up in the small desolate town of Fingerbone in the vast northwest of America. Abandoned by a succession of relatives, the sisters find themselves in the care of Sylvie, the remote and enigmatic sister of their dead mother. Steeped in imagery of the bleak wintry landscape around them, the sisters' struggle towards adulthood is powerfully portrayed in a novel about loss, loneliness and transience. 'I love and have lived with this book . . . it holds a unique and quiet place among the masterpieces of 20th century American fiction.' Paul Bailey 'I found myself reading slowly, than more slowly--this is not a novel to be hurried through, for every sentence is a delight.' Doris Lessing