First published 2006
Matthew Kneale presents a collection of stories set in modern Britain, where ordinary people face unexpected moral dilemmas. Characters navigate situations where small transgressions seem justified by circumstance or necessity. A middle-class professional considers cutting corners when financial pressure mounts. Neighbors make questionable choices about property boundaries and shared responsibilities. Families wrestle with decisions about aging parents and inheritance. Each story examines how people rationalize behavior they might have once condemned. Kneale shows characters discovering that their principles bend more easily than they expected when comfort or convenience hangs in the balance. The stories reveal how abundance creates its own ethical blind spots, where plenty makes small compromises feel harmless.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: moral-ambiguity, rationalization
Setting: Britain
Period: Modern
277 pages · Paperback · Picador