First published 2021
A twelve-year-old's Instagram posts become a window into contemporary anxieties. A parent navigates the peculiar social dynamics of a Waldorf school fair. An aging indie film star confronts the passage of time. Across nine stories, characters grapple with unexpected visitors who disrupt their carefully constructed lives. They struggle to find stable ground in a work environment that shifts like a shell game. Friendships strain under the weight of unspoken desires. Parents watch their children move through a world both familiar and strange. The stories move between the mundane details of daily life and moments that feel otherworldly. Characters face the gap between who they appear to be and who they actually are. Race and class create invisible barriers. Celebrity and obsession intertwine. Time passes, leaving characters changed in ways they don't fully understand. These interconnected tales reveal the contradictions of modern life, where terror and delight often occupy the same moment.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, family-life, contemporary, 21st-century, contemporary-romance
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, interconnected-stories, slice-of-life
240 pages · Paperback · Picador Paper