First published 2024
A couple opens their eyes in a vacation cabin surrounded by woods. The setting never changes. The peaceful scene repeats endlessly. Their young son remains the same age while they grow older. The man realizes they cannot escape this frozen paradise. In another story, a man discovers his neighbor's body in her apartment. He flees and finds himself pursued through the city. A third man agrees to sleep with a woman while her boyfriend watches from a closet. He uncovers the strange truth behind their arrangement. These tales move between ordinary moments and bizarre encounters. Characters face situations that defy explanation. A woman confronts something that should not exist. A family dinner turns into something else entirely. Williams writes about people who discover that reality operates by different rules than they believed. The familiar world reveals itself as fragile as a dollhouse.
Genres: short-stories, literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Woods, City
Period: Contemporary
240 pages · Paperback · Hamish Hamilton Ltd