THE INSTANT CULT CLASSIC FROM THE WINNER OF THE O. HENRY PRIZE
‘Full of dark, deadpan humour, Brat is a raucous story of the messy, messed-up business of living, dying and having a family.’ Financial Times
‘A moving coming-of-age family story’ Observer
'Beautifully written, hilarious, and heartbreaking' Daily Mail
'A raw, delicate tale about grief and growing up' The New Yorker
'Iconic', Radio 1
'The novel crackles with gothic horror, deadpan humor, and a damning sense of alienation that you won’t soon shake.' Chicago Review of Books
'Instead of resolving his novel’s many mysteries, Smith explores how this family navigates the disputed borders of its shared memories, pondering what it means to choose one story over another—as well as the consequences of refusing to choose, especially in the wake of grief.' The New York Times
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Gabriel’s skin is falling off.
His dad is dead.
He owes his editor a novel.
His girlfriend won’t answer his calls.
Tasked by his horribly well-adjusted brother with clearing out the family home for sale, Gabriel’s sanity quickly begins to unravel. His parents’ old manuscripts appear to change each time he reads them. A bizarre home video hints at long-buried secrets. And there’s a hideous man in the garden.
Disquieting and hilarious, taut yet lyrical, blisteringly-paced but formally inventive, Brat is a mediation on grief, art and love that will leave you altered, breathless and desperate for more.
From a stunningly original new talent, this is a debut novel unlike anything you have read before.