First published 1995
Alice Thomas Ellis crafts another of her signature dark comedies in this 1995 novel. The story unfolds through Ellis's characteristic blend of sharp wit and mordant observation, examining human frailties with her typical unsentimental eye. Characters navigate their complicated lives while Ellis exposes the absurdities and small cruelties that define their relationships. The author's distinctive voice cuts through pretension and self-deception, revealing the uncomfortable truths her characters prefer to avoid. Ellis builds tension through seemingly ordinary interactions that carry deeper currents of disappointment and longing. Her prose maintains the precise, cutting style that distinguished her earlier works, delivering moments of recognition that feel both uncomfortable and inevitable. The novel explores familiar Ellis territory where domestic life becomes a battlefield of unspoken grievances and missed connections.
Genres: domestic-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, adult-fiction
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Period: 1995
Paperback · Penguin UK