First published 2010
Gabriel Brockwell stands at the edge of his twenties, a self-styled poet and philosopher who has grown weary of existence itself. He decides to end his life, but not before embarking on one final journey across the globe. Brockwell moves through different countries and cultures, encountering strangers and situations that challenge his nihilistic worldview. His travels become a series of unexpected adventures and revelations. Each destination forces him to confront what it means to be alive when you have already decided to die. The young aesthete discovers that the world refuses to cooperate with his carefully planned finale. His odyssey transforms from a farewell tour into something more complex and unpredictable. Brockwell must wrestle with whether his death wish stems from genuine despair or merely fashionable desperation.
Genres: literary-fiction, adventure, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Global
Period: Contemporary
Kindle Edition · Faber & Faber
Content warnings: depression, suicide