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So Close To Home
Eighteen-year-old Aaron is charismatic, resourceful and addicted to heroin. His mum has kicked him out of home in a last-ditch move to help him get straight, and he wanders the streets of South Melbourne, living on his wits and sleeping rough - all the while chasing drugs, dreams and love.
Desperate to fund his addiction, Aaron climbs into the car of The Man, a distinguished elderly gentleman willing to pay for a certain kind of relationship. This regular cash could be the lifeline Aaron needs to start again, but The Man keeps raising spectres from Aaron's past that he'd rather forget. As Aaron gathers the courage to confront the events that derailed his life, his rage grows – and the consequences could be fatal.
So Close to Home is a pacey, gritty and captivating novel exploring homelessness, power dynamics and the ties that bind. Social worker, debut author and winner of the prestigious VPLA for Unpublished Manuscript Mick Cummins has created a striking, emotionally complex and unnervingly tense narrative that poses one simple question: who can we ever truly rely on?
Desperate to fund his addiction, Aaron climbs into the car of The Man, a distinguished elderly gentleman willing to pay for a certain kind of relationship. This regular cash could be the lifeline Aaron needs to start again, but The Man keeps raising spectres from Aaron's past that he'd rather forget. As Aaron gathers the courage to confront the events that derailed his life, his rage grows – and the consequences could be fatal.
So Close to Home is a pacey, gritty and captivating novel exploring homelessness, power dynamics and the ties that bind. Social worker, debut author and winner of the prestigious VPLA for Unpublished Manuscript Mick Cummins has created a striking, emotionally complex and unnervingly tense narrative that poses one simple question: who can we ever truly rely on?
320 pages, Paperback
First published October 31, 2023
3 people are currently reading
202 people want to read
About the author
Mick Cummins
2 books5 followersMick Cummins was born in Tasmania where he wrote his first full-length play, Window Without a View. It was elected for a reading at the Australian National Playwrights Conference and produced at Hobart's Theatre Royal Backspace. In 1994 he moved to Melbourne with his partner and two children, where his second play, Perfect Madness, was developed with the Melbourne Writer's Theatre and produced at the Carlton Courthouse. In 2001 he won the NSW Premier's History Award for the documentary Thomson of Arnhem Land before co-writing the ABC docu-dramas, Monash: The Forgotten Anzac and Menzies and Churchill at War. He wrote and directed the ABC documentaries The Woodcutter's Son and Portrait of a Distant Land and has written two unproduced feature film scripts developed with Screen Tasmania, Film Victoria and Screen Australia. His latest screenplay, The Hut, is in pre-production. So Close to Home is his first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
August 2, 2023
(3.5 stars)
So Close to Home paints a picture of what life in Melbourne is like when you use heroin. Time is punctuated into the hours until your next hit, with each injected dose only giving about five hours reprieve: “His brain is in another gear, racing, as always, in pursuit of a pathway to score.”
Written by a former policeman, Mick Cummins, this book is fairly gentle and avoids judgement. Eighteen year old Aaron is a victim and survivor of child sexual abuse. Unusually he was brave enough to speak out within a few months of the abuse, which ruptured his immediate family into those who believed him, and those who do not. Heroin provides an escape from the pain he feels as a result of the sexual abuse without counselling that he feels will he “too hurtful, like probing for a splinter buried deep in flesh.” Heroin has also taken away his remaining family and housing, as his mother struggles to cope with the changes in her son produced by the drug.
As the novel proceeds, Aaron’s need and decreasing monies (Centrelink cut off his payment, busking is illegal without one) see him turn to opportunistic sex work with men: “Sex for money for heroin: that’s the equation.” The older male client base remind him of his abuser and dredge up trauma that makes him use more often: “the mounting tension between deep pain and ugly pleasure that always resolves in overwhelming guilt.” While So Close to Home isn’t a love story to heroin like Candy, it does help you see how untenable we make life for people who use the drug: “a stark reminder of the void between the life he has now and the one that was stolen from him”. It will probably elicit sympathy for the protagonist even as you clutch your bag, bike and laptop closer.
With thanks to NetGalley and Affirm Press for sending me a copy to read.
So Close to Home paints a picture of what life in Melbourne is like when you use heroin. Time is punctuated into the hours until your next hit, with each injected dose only giving about five hours reprieve: “His brain is in another gear, racing, as always, in pursuit of a pathway to score.”
Written by a former policeman, Mick Cummins, this book is fairly gentle and avoids judgement. Eighteen year old Aaron is a victim and survivor of child sexual abuse. Unusually he was brave enough to speak out within a few months of the abuse, which ruptured his immediate family into those who believed him, and those who do not. Heroin provides an escape from the pain he feels as a result of the sexual abuse without counselling that he feels will he “too hurtful, like probing for a splinter buried deep in flesh.” Heroin has also taken away his remaining family and housing, as his mother struggles to cope with the changes in her son produced by the drug.
As the novel proceeds, Aaron’s need and decreasing monies (Centrelink cut off his payment, busking is illegal without one) see him turn to opportunistic sex work with men: “Sex for money for heroin: that’s the equation.” The older male client base remind him of his abuser and dredge up trauma that makes him use more often: “the mounting tension between deep pain and ugly pleasure that always resolves in overwhelming guilt.” While So Close to Home isn’t a love story to heroin like Candy, it does help you see how untenable we make life for people who use the drug: “a stark reminder of the void between the life he has now and the one that was stolen from him”. It will probably elicit sympathy for the protagonist even as you clutch your bag, bike and laptop closer.
With thanks to NetGalley and Affirm Press for sending me a copy to read.
March 21, 2024
Terrible cop out of an ending that didn't fit with the rest of the story and came out of nowhere. Was the author trying to humanise users? Show that there are reasons why people use and that they shouldn't be despised because they use? I hope so. Then why that ending? Why ruin it all with that?
I liked Aaron, sort of. He did get a bit annoying at times, but overall he was well written and showed depth, if not growth. But I keep coming back to the ending, although it's better than if the ending had been him getting clean, going home to his Mum and living happily ever after - so maybe it wasn't the worst ending the author could have given us.
Overall, a bit of a cop out. Was Aaron 18 so his relationship with the Man was a little less disturbing? He lacked any sort of maturity for a lot of the story so I found it hard to believe he was 18. 16 maybe. I found it hard to believe it won unpublished manuscript with that ending, but maybe?
Worth reading, I guess. Some interesting scenes and aspects, but as a whole, perhaps not the book for me. I will be interested to see what the author writes next though....
I liked Aaron, sort of. He did get a bit annoying at times, but overall he was well written and showed depth, if not growth. But I keep coming back to the ending, although it's better than if the ending had been him getting clean, going home to his Mum and living happily ever after - so maybe it wasn't the worst ending the author could have given us.
Overall, a bit of a cop out. Was Aaron 18 so his relationship with the Man was a little less disturbing? He lacked any sort of maturity for a lot of the story so I found it hard to believe he was 18. 16 maybe. I found it hard to believe it won unpublished manuscript with that ending, but maybe?
Worth reading, I guess. Some interesting scenes and aspects, but as a whole, perhaps not the book for me. I will be interested to see what the author writes next though....
March 27, 2024
So Close To Home is a rugged and unflinching look at a life on the edge.
Aaron is eighteen and addicted to heroin. His mum kicks him out of home hoping that he will sort himself out.
Forced to sleep rough and fend for himself, Aaron resorts to petty theft to feed his habit. The more desperate he gets the more he is prepared to do to get money for his gear.
The descriptions of drug taking are hard to stomach, but are not sensationalised at all.
There is a camaraderie between the people that Aaron knows and associates with, and while they do look out for each other, at the end of the day, their own survival comes first. Life on the streets is brutal.
The hope that was a constant in Aaron's mind, his plans for the future were constantly at war with his need for his next hit.
This is a well told story, that I felt was honest and real. I'm not sure what it is I like about these types of stories, but I was drawn to this book and its look at a difficult topic.
Aaron is eighteen and addicted to heroin. His mum kicks him out of home hoping that he will sort himself out.
Forced to sleep rough and fend for himself, Aaron resorts to petty theft to feed his habit. The more desperate he gets the more he is prepared to do to get money for his gear.
The descriptions of drug taking are hard to stomach, but are not sensationalised at all.
There is a camaraderie between the people that Aaron knows and associates with, and while they do look out for each other, at the end of the day, their own survival comes first. Life on the streets is brutal.
The hope that was a constant in Aaron's mind, his plans for the future were constantly at war with his need for his next hit.
This is a well told story, that I felt was honest and real. I'm not sure what it is I like about these types of stories, but I was drawn to this book and its look at a difficult topic.
January 20, 2025
I'm reading again after a month break!!!
Nice book, felt for the main character a lot, felt grounded. Story felt real, heartbreaking with an out of left field but satisfying ending.
Nice book, felt for the main character a lot, felt grounded. Story felt real, heartbreaking with an out of left field but satisfying ending.
November 12, 2023
Youth homelessness and drug abuse are tough subjects to take on in Australia. They are either ignored or treated as a problem for the legal system. Mick Cummins takes the issue head on in his latest novel So Close to Home. The novel takes readers deep into the life of a teenager living on the streets of Melbourne and the downward cycle of abuse that he finds himself in.
When So Close to Home opens Aaron is being given a slight chance – a room in a hostel for the night. But before long he has stolen his roommate’s watch and pawned it for drug money. Aaron is addicted to heroin and has been living on the street since his mother kicked him out. His parents split up over his allegations of abuse against his grandfather. Now he floats through the city, constantly seeking money for his next score, eventually turning to prostitution and finding himself in a twisted version of the abuse that destroyed his life.
There is not much plot to speak of in So Close to Home. This is a character study with a narrative that goes where Aaron goes, beats to the rhythm of his life, and charts what can only ever be an inexorable decline. It is compassionate and heart breaking. Aaron experiences moments of grace – brief friendships, time with his mother and her boss in their hair salon. But all of these moments sit beneath the shadow of his addiction which drives him to take risks and also leaves him vulnerable.
Where writers like Trent Dalton rely on a more whimsical, optimistic approach to the issue of homelessness and to some extent the drug problem, Cummins takes a more realistic approach. It is a reality that is easy to turn away from. But Cummins makes readers look, to try and understand what has brought Aaron to this point, and how the systems around him are not only ill-equipped to help him but often serve to push him further down into a spiral of addiction. Even the name of the book, So Close to Home, highlights that Aaron’s world is only a bus ride from his childhood home, and yet he has nowhere to turn. So Close to Home deals with issues that are so common that they have fallen out of the news and out of view for many. It is tough but important fiction that with hopefully get readers thinking more deeply about an issue and a population who we tend to not think about at all.
When So Close to Home opens Aaron is being given a slight chance – a room in a hostel for the night. But before long he has stolen his roommate’s watch and pawned it for drug money. Aaron is addicted to heroin and has been living on the street since his mother kicked him out. His parents split up over his allegations of abuse against his grandfather. Now he floats through the city, constantly seeking money for his next score, eventually turning to prostitution and finding himself in a twisted version of the abuse that destroyed his life.
There is not much plot to speak of in So Close to Home. This is a character study with a narrative that goes where Aaron goes, beats to the rhythm of his life, and charts what can only ever be an inexorable decline. It is compassionate and heart breaking. Aaron experiences moments of grace – brief friendships, time with his mother and her boss in their hair salon. But all of these moments sit beneath the shadow of his addiction which drives him to take risks and also leaves him vulnerable.
Where writers like Trent Dalton rely on a more whimsical, optimistic approach to the issue of homelessness and to some extent the drug problem, Cummins takes a more realistic approach. It is a reality that is easy to turn away from. But Cummins makes readers look, to try and understand what has brought Aaron to this point, and how the systems around him are not only ill-equipped to help him but often serve to push him further down into a spiral of addiction. Even the name of the book, So Close to Home, highlights that Aaron’s world is only a bus ride from his childhood home, and yet he has nowhere to turn. So Close to Home deals with issues that are so common that they have fallen out of the news and out of view for many. It is tough but important fiction that with hopefully get readers thinking more deeply about an issue and a population who we tend to not think about at all.
November 10, 2023
‘Play the game, Aaron. Just play the game and get it over with.’
Eighteen-year-old Aaron is a homeless heroin addict. Aaron’s mother loves him, and she hopes that kicking him out will help him kick the habit. Aaron spends his life chasing his next fix, but he intends to stop using because he would like to make his mother proud of him. Unfortunately, addictions aren’t that easy to give up, especially when heroin provides a temporary refuge from memories of abuse.
The streets of South Melbourne are home to Aaron. His dreams of a better life are interrupted by memories of abuse at the hands of his grandfather, reinforced by his father’s rejection of Aaron’s experience. Aaron’s need for cash to fund his habit drives him to theft, and then he meets a man. The distinguished looking older man Aaron meets is prepared to pay him regularly for certain services. Aaron can comply if he’s high. That is the only way he can block out the pain of the past.
‘Sex for money for heroin: that’s the equation.’
But a young man burdened with memories of abuse, requiring increasing amounts of heroin to blunt his pain is both volatile and vulnerable. Aaron is motivated to make money by busking (until he realises that he needs a permit) and drug-affected, he trusts the wrong people.
This story is a fiction, but Aaron’s story could apply to many who have been abused. The temporary escape, the relief afforded by drugs is replaced by physical addiction and problems multiply. There’s a limit to how much physical and psychic pain a person can bear.
Mr Cummins captures Aaron’s struggles and while not condoning his actions makes it easier to understand them. This novel made me uncomfortable and sad, and I finished it wishing for a different outcome.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Affirm Press for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Eighteen-year-old Aaron is a homeless heroin addict. Aaron’s mother loves him, and she hopes that kicking him out will help him kick the habit. Aaron spends his life chasing his next fix, but he intends to stop using because he would like to make his mother proud of him. Unfortunately, addictions aren’t that easy to give up, especially when heroin provides a temporary refuge from memories of abuse.
The streets of South Melbourne are home to Aaron. His dreams of a better life are interrupted by memories of abuse at the hands of his grandfather, reinforced by his father’s rejection of Aaron’s experience. Aaron’s need for cash to fund his habit drives him to theft, and then he meets a man. The distinguished looking older man Aaron meets is prepared to pay him regularly for certain services. Aaron can comply if he’s high. That is the only way he can block out the pain of the past.
‘Sex for money for heroin: that’s the equation.’
But a young man burdened with memories of abuse, requiring increasing amounts of heroin to blunt his pain is both volatile and vulnerable. Aaron is motivated to make money by busking (until he realises that he needs a permit) and drug-affected, he trusts the wrong people.
This story is a fiction, but Aaron’s story could apply to many who have been abused. The temporary escape, the relief afforded by drugs is replaced by physical addiction and problems multiply. There’s a limit to how much physical and psychic pain a person can bear.
Mr Cummins captures Aaron’s struggles and while not condoning his actions makes it easier to understand them. This novel made me uncomfortable and sad, and I finished it wishing for a different outcome.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Affirm Press for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
January 13, 2024
More like 3.5, really. This is an interesting read. You go into the book knowing it's going to depressing and deal with tough topics, and you get all that. There are some really nice moments between characters that show their relationships, but there's also not enough for you, as the reader, to care about the other characters' arcs. This is not a feel good story. That said, in a way, it's good to read a book that addresses the reality and darkness of the lives of the many people who are homeless and/or drug-dependent in Australia. These are, in many situations, taboo topics, and the author has done well in shining light into that world.
All that said, it also felt like the author was deliberately trying to limit some of the descriptions because of the nastiness of the scene or the theme discussed. Which makes it slightly more accessible to a broader audience—it could certainly be both YA and adult, as long as the content warnings are properly communicated. However, in making it relevant to a wider readership, it feels as if the author has compromised on some elements of the plot and narrative. It may have been a conscious decision, and that certainly has its benefits.
Overall, the writing is straightforward and easy enough to get through quickly. That's good because it balances out the heaviness of the themes.
All that said, it also felt like the author was deliberately trying to limit some of the descriptions because of the nastiness of the scene or the theme discussed. Which makes it slightly more accessible to a broader audience—it could certainly be both YA and adult, as long as the content warnings are properly communicated. However, in making it relevant to a wider readership, it feels as if the author has compromised on some elements of the plot and narrative. It may have been a conscious decision, and that certainly has its benefits.
Overall, the writing is straightforward and easy enough to get through quickly. That's good because it balances out the heaviness of the themes.
March 14, 2024
A powerful, well-written and well-researched book.
As a ten-year old, Aaron tells his parents that he is being molested by his grandfather. Neither of his parents choose to believe him.
Now, at the age of eighteen he’s a drug addict. The author gives insights into how his mind works. And what we see is that mentally Aaron is quite capable of finding what he wants – like the people to sell him drugs, and money to pay for the drugs.
He doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe, or relative and stranger. He lies easily and steals anything that’s lying around.
Even his mother changes the locks of her house because she knows if Aaron gets in when she’s not there he’ll have no compunction in stealing anything he can pawn.
He's intelligent enough to turn to blackmail when he gets the chance. And allows himself to be fondled as his grandfather used to, if he gets money for it. He’s even capable of violence.
The book is written through Aaron’s eyes. Totally unjudgmental. Aaron does what he does because he needs to do it.
In high school, after we read a book set for our study, we’d be asked the question ‘What is the moral of this story?’ Usually, it was right wins over wrong, justice prevails, cheats never prosper, honesty is the best policy and similar.
My question is, what is the moral of this story? Or even, is there a moral to this story?
As a ten-year old, Aaron tells his parents that he is being molested by his grandfather. Neither of his parents choose to believe him.
Now, at the age of eighteen he’s a drug addict. The author gives insights into how his mind works. And what we see is that mentally Aaron is quite capable of finding what he wants – like the people to sell him drugs, and money to pay for the drugs.
He doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe, or relative and stranger. He lies easily and steals anything that’s lying around.
Even his mother changes the locks of her house because she knows if Aaron gets in when she’s not there he’ll have no compunction in stealing anything he can pawn.
He's intelligent enough to turn to blackmail when he gets the chance. And allows himself to be fondled as his grandfather used to, if he gets money for it. He’s even capable of violence.
The book is written through Aaron’s eyes. Totally unjudgmental. Aaron does what he does because he needs to do it.
In high school, after we read a book set for our study, we’d be asked the question ‘What is the moral of this story?’ Usually, it was right wins over wrong, justice prevails, cheats never prosper, honesty is the best policy and similar.
My question is, what is the moral of this story? Or even, is there a moral to this story?
January 8, 2024
So Close to Home (2023) is Mick Cummins's debut literary fiction novel and a grimly harsh chronicle. It’s a heartfelt dark Aussie tale of a homeless eighteen-year-old. Aaron was the victim of childhood trauma (trigger warning) leading to his life on the streets and his daily battle for a fix. Needing money, Aaron encounters an older man, who is yet another to take advantage of Aaron, as he struggles with his demons each day of his life on the streets of Melbourne. Aaron is continually reminded of his past he’d rather forget, but can never resolve given his estranged father’s denial. His mother offers him minimal support and tough love but the consequences of Aaron’s life lead to an inevitable fatal spiral. Whilst Aaron has a sense of hope and is a survivor, his story is gritty and not for the faint hearted. A surprisingly readable, at times horrific, yet powerful account of the consequences of childhood abuse that is a four stars read rating. With thanks to Affirm Press and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without inducement.
December 29, 2023
This book deals with deep, sensitive and real issues which are underrepresented in mainstream literature. It is refreshing to see an author grapple with these issues and how they intersect, and to transform it into a narrative. Despite this, the book never really matches its promise. There are a number of sub-plots which made it difficult to follow and I wished that there was greater focus on the main character's relationship with his mother and of the challenges he faced in everyday life. The ending was, perhaps, too anti-climatic and didn't match the seriousness of the issues the book dealt with. It had a lot of potential to be an eye-opening, introspective narrative — but it sadly failed to meet the mark.
January 1, 2024
What a terrible book. It has an inconsistent plot (first they're watching a vhs, but then it's a DVD, then they are rural, hit a Wombat in a Lexus and nothing happens. - Any country person knows you hit a Wombat and you're stuffed).
Then there's the storyline...or lack of.
Absolutely nothing happens.
It's about a drug addict and how he scores. That's literally it.. multiples ways to score, broken promises and fake drug dealer friends.
He doesn't get better, he doesn't die...he literally just continues to score.
What a disappointment.
Then there's the storyline...or lack of.
Absolutely nothing happens.
It's about a drug addict and how he scores. That's literally it.. multiples ways to score, broken promises and fake drug dealer friends.
He doesn't get better, he doesn't die...he literally just continues to score.
What a disappointment.
February 7, 2024
Tragic and horrible! I felt pulled along by the relentless suffering Aaron endures. His pain at being abused is developed throughout the novel. He lives in a fantasy world, where his hopes and dreams are smashed continually by harsh reality. His guilt, rage and frustration eat him up. It's truly a horrifying tale.
The issue of how society treats homeless people and addicts is explored quietly and tactfully. It's easy to generalise but difficult to help someone when he cannot help himself.
My friend loaned me a copy of this book.
The issue of how society treats homeless people and addicts is explored quietly and tactfully. It's easy to generalise but difficult to help someone when he cannot help himself.
My friend loaned me a copy of this book.
December 4, 2023
Gritty. Lots of Melbourne references. A very depressing story arc - pretty much everything goes wrong - but I guess to be expected given the heroin addict subject. Unfortunately, parts felt like "a day in the life of a heroin addict" rather than a novel. And it felt surprisingly remote - despite getting quite a bit of back-story, it was hard to connect with Aaron. And the descriptions were not as gritty as similar books, such as Luke Davies' amazing "Candy", which added to the remoteness. Nevertheless, a good book overall.
September 2, 2023
A very powerful debut for Mick Cummins, which stands strongly to other key Australian authors like Craig Silvey and Marcus Zusak. Content wise it is a difficult read, but sadly it is the life which many youths experience, and therefore not something we should shy away from.
September 13, 2023
A very powerful debut for Mick Cummins, which stands strongly to other key Australian authors like Craig Silvey and Marcus Zusak. Content wise it is a difficult read, but sadly it is the life which many youths experience, and therefore not something we should shy away from.
Read by Suzie
Read by Suzie
January 4, 2024
I’ve read my fair share of “trauma” fiction and I’m fussy. I disliked “A Little Life” and “Shuggie Bain” but I absolutely loved “Lola in the Mirror”, “Bodies of Light” and anything by Sophie Laguna.
I have also worked in the homelessness sector for over 25 years, so I see and hear about trauma frequently as part of real life, not just in novels.
“So Close to Home” is a gritty, realistic portrayal of a young person's journey through trauma, rough sleeping and drug addiction.
Those of us who work in the homelessness sector will recognise the main character, Aaron - even though his story is unique, it resonates with the stories of so many of our clients.
Mick Cummins takes us on a journey with Aaron, meeting a range of authentic characters – the seedy and exploitative, the sad and desperate, the kind and sympathetic – and Aaron has a little bit of all of these traits inside himself too.
We wish and hope that Aaron’s dream of setting himself up as a Bourke Street mall busker and coming good works out, despite the odds which are stacked against him.
Aaron is a young man whose decision-making and planning is shaped by his trauma and substance dependency and limited life choices. It can be hard to explain how people in this situation think differently. I call it “survival thinking” but I’m sure there is a psychological name for it! Mick Cummins conveyed this way of thinking so well through Aaron’s story.
I particularly enjoy novels set in my home city – Melbourne. “So Close to Home” is set close to my home, around the neighborhoods I’m familiar with through my work and home life. I’ve even walked the streets of South Melbourne (where much of the book is set) in the middle of the night looking for rough sleepers as part of one of our local Street Counts.
Reading “So Close to Home” will help you understand the experience of homelessness, although everyone’s story is different.
This novel helps in our efforts to end homelessness by improving understanding and empathy. I hope it does this for you when you read it.
I have also worked in the homelessness sector for over 25 years, so I see and hear about trauma frequently as part of real life, not just in novels.
“So Close to Home” is a gritty, realistic portrayal of a young person's journey through trauma, rough sleeping and drug addiction.
Those of us who work in the homelessness sector will recognise the main character, Aaron - even though his story is unique, it resonates with the stories of so many of our clients.
Mick Cummins takes us on a journey with Aaron, meeting a range of authentic characters – the seedy and exploitative, the sad and desperate, the kind and sympathetic – and Aaron has a little bit of all of these traits inside himself too.
We wish and hope that Aaron’s dream of setting himself up as a Bourke Street mall busker and coming good works out, despite the odds which are stacked against him.
Aaron is a young man whose decision-making and planning is shaped by his trauma and substance dependency and limited life choices. It can be hard to explain how people in this situation think differently. I call it “survival thinking” but I’m sure there is a psychological name for it! Mick Cummins conveyed this way of thinking so well through Aaron’s story.
I particularly enjoy novels set in my home city – Melbourne. “So Close to Home” is set close to my home, around the neighborhoods I’m familiar with through my work and home life. I’ve even walked the streets of South Melbourne (where much of the book is set) in the middle of the night looking for rough sleepers as part of one of our local Street Counts.
Reading “So Close to Home” will help you understand the experience of homelessness, although everyone’s story is different.
This novel helps in our efforts to end homelessness by improving understanding and empathy. I hope it does this for you when you read it.
July 28, 2024
3.5 stars. Whilst I was absorbed with the story and journey of Aaron, and his addiction problems, the last few pages just didn’t make sense. Lacked credibility and flow. How could you get to this conclusion. Did the author run out of time? It was great til this point.
December 23, 2024
This is a standout Australian novel that explores the themes of drug addiction, homelessness, suicide and trauma. Set in and around the inner city of Melbourne we follow the main protagonist, Alex, as he walks the streets of the city in search for his next heroin hit.
November 21, 2023
Enjoyed this read about a young man up against it. Showed how so many forces in society work against him.
January 17, 2024
(3.5 stars) This book was well written but hard to read. The sadness of the story is still deeply within me.
January 19, 2024
Dark, depressing. A glimmer of hope at the end.
January 20, 2024
A lonely vacuum of sorrow, invoking empathy amongst the aimlessness.
February 6, 2024
You can't help but feel hope for Aaron. This book may be 5 it reflects those who have real-life versions of Aarons story.
December 5, 2024
Excellent debut novel. Sad but true tale of drug addiction and living on the streets
July 22, 2025
A compelling novel that felt like a road map of all inner Melbourne.
Read
June 7, 2024Aaron is an eighteen-year old herion addict. He spends his time chasing his next hit, his next feeling of "normality," to become "the boy [his mother] lost, that they both lost."
When I finished this sometimes harrowing read, I was still not sure writer Mick Cummins had helped me believe in Aaron. Perhaps he didn't want me to. Perhaps it's all just a useless waste of time and life.
I felt I'd have liked a fuller Aaron backstory to help me become more immersed in his decisions and ache a little more at his naive lunges at hope, quickly and chillingly stolen from him.
This novel, set around South Melbourne Australia, and the rural hinterland near Little River (I'll never drive down the Geelong Highway again without unwanted images intruding) is certainly worth a read, if even to bring you closer to the truth of homelessness, adduction and betrayal.
When I finished this sometimes harrowing read, I was still not sure writer Mick Cummins had helped me believe in Aaron. Perhaps he didn't want me to. Perhaps it's all just a useless waste of time and life.
I felt I'd have liked a fuller Aaron backstory to help me become more immersed in his decisions and ache a little more at his naive lunges at hope, quickly and chillingly stolen from him.
This novel, set around South Melbourne Australia, and the rural hinterland near Little River (I'll never drive down the Geelong Highway again without unwanted images intruding) is certainly worth a read, if even to bring you closer to the truth of homelessness, adduction and betrayal.
November 6, 2023
Aaron has been kicked out of home by his mother. He is 18yo and since the age of 16 has been addicted to heroin, his life ruled by the frenzied drive for a fix. He is an opportunistic thief, taking any opportunity to find money to score.
This is Mick Cummins' first novel and he paints Aaron's scenario as close to home... and yet it's so far, the life he longs for always beyond his grasp.
We learn of Aaron's history, the underlying reason for his addiction perhaps a little too predictable, as is his developing relationship with 'The Man' - a return to what he's running from.
There are some excellent parallel portraits of Aaron and his friends drawn beside university students, however their paths go in opposite directions, Aaron's descending into a hell from which there is no return.
An interesting narrative about addiction, I found this story a little uneven and too predictable. 3 1/2 stars.
This is Mick Cummins' first novel and he paints Aaron's scenario as close to home... and yet it's so far, the life he longs for always beyond his grasp.
We learn of Aaron's history, the underlying reason for his addiction perhaps a little too predictable, as is his developing relationship with 'The Man' - a return to what he's running from.
There are some excellent parallel portraits of Aaron and his friends drawn beside university students, however their paths go in opposite directions, Aaron's descending into a hell from which there is no return.
An interesting narrative about addiction, I found this story a little uneven and too predictable. 3 1/2 stars.
August 31, 2024
"So Close to Home" by Mick Cummins follows 18-year-old Aaron, a survivor of child sexual assault, who turns to heroin to escape his pain. When his mother can no longer cope with his addiction, Aaron ends up on the streets of Melbourne CBD. Consumed by his addiction, he moves around the city chasing heroin, surviving on Centrelink payments, and resorting to petty theft.
Desperate for money, Aaron meets a “distinguished” elderly gentleman who pays him regularly for certain services. Though the cash is hard to refuse, performing these services brings back traumatic memories and deepens Aaron's addiction, as he can only fulfill the tasks while high.
"So Close to Home" is a well-told, captivating, and honest exploration of a young person's life, homelessness, and heroin addiction. Aaron's morals, hopes, and dreams are overshadowed by his need for his next hit. The brutal reality of street life shows that while friends may look out for each other, survival often comes first.
The ending, while not ideal, is realistic. The notion of Aaron getting clean and achieving all his dreams would have been unrealistic, and the author wisely avoids this cliché.
I recommend this book, especially for older high school students, as it provides a stark, realistic account of the downward spiral of drug addiction. It is a powerful, well-written, and well-researched story.
Desperate for money, Aaron meets a “distinguished” elderly gentleman who pays him regularly for certain services. Though the cash is hard to refuse, performing these services brings back traumatic memories and deepens Aaron's addiction, as he can only fulfill the tasks while high.
"So Close to Home" is a well-told, captivating, and honest exploration of a young person's life, homelessness, and heroin addiction. Aaron's morals, hopes, and dreams are overshadowed by his need for his next hit. The brutal reality of street life shows that while friends may look out for each other, survival often comes first.
The ending, while not ideal, is realistic. The notion of Aaron getting clean and achieving all his dreams would have been unrealistic, and the author wisely avoids this cliché.
I recommend this book, especially for older high school students, as it provides a stark, realistic account of the downward spiral of drug addiction. It is a powerful, well-written, and well-researched story.
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