First published 2012
Phil tends plants in a north London park, but his quiet work gets complicated when his unpredictable supervisor Doug and a vindictive one-legged former museum curator named Saleem turn his days into chaos. They mystify him, brutalize him, drug him, mock him, and seduce him while he tries to keep his balance and do his job. Phil endures the abuse with characteristic shyness until they cross a final line and remove his eyebrows. That's when he decides to strike back. In the second novel, Ruby moves through London's grittier neighborhoods where people gamble on uncertain outcomes and deal with strange allergies. Music plays and dogs wander through scenes where characters pick each other like lottery numbers, hoping to form winning combinations. Ruby understands something the others miss about their endless attempts to beat the odds. She knows that losing defines the entire experience of taking risks.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: London, North London
Period: Contemporary
208 pages · Kindle Edition · Fourth Estate
Content warnings: abuse, mental-illness