One of the great hidden gems of the past decade.Written in brief entries from ‘Ambition’ to ‘Zzzzz’ Salway's confident debut novel chronicles the existential ups and downs of British 20-something Verity Bell.The alphabetically arranged mini-chapters make for an inventive and episodic narrative, as Verity muses on her career (A is for Attitude: «I work as a secretary in the media… something I don't always talk about because some people seem to think I'm showing off»), her friendship with the...
Discover a novelist that Neil Gaiman describes as ‘an astonishingly smart writer’.When a chance meeting with a stranger leads to an offer of a room in exchange for telling her stories, Molly jumps at the chance.Slowly she builds a new, eccentric family around herself: Tim, her secretive boyfriend, who just might be a spy; Miranda, the lovelorn hairstylist; Liz, the lusty librarian; Mr. Roberts, landlord and listener; and his French wife, Mrs. Roberts.Much to Molly's surprise, she finds the...
