First published 2009
John Breeze thought his family had suffered enough bad luck when lightning killed his mother Mary fourteen years ago. He was wrong. Now John watches his world collapse during two catastrophic weeks that test every defense the Breeze family can muster. Insurance policies fail them. Security systems break down. Even lucky underpants prove useless against a relentless string of misfortunes including job loss, break-ins, and sporting defeats. John makes chairs for a living, badly, while his father manages railways and referees football matches with equal incompetence. Armed only with half-remembered religious ideas, workplace slogans, and bitter jokes, father and son struggle to understand why fate keeps punishing them. Lightning has struck the Breeze family twice, and John must confront the cruel randomness of a universe that seems determined to destroy everything he holds dear.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Period: 14 Years Ago
204 pages · Paperback · HARPER PERENNIAL