Description

A woman granted a superpower discovers it’s more trouble than it’s worth. A neighbourhood forum becomes the setting for a bizarre ghost story. A children’s entertainer wrestles with problems that are nothing to joke about. A harassed dad attempts to meet the challenge of the primary school cake competition.

By turns tender and satirical, witty and bizarre, the stories in this debut collection cast a fresh eye on first-world problems. Funny and humane, they zoom in on the absurdities and poignancies in work, family, love and loss in our frenetic modern lives.

Publisher Review

'Alive with humour, wit and subtle observations...and, then, when we're least expecting it, a darkness, a deeper reality,a shadow that creeps up behind and holds up a mirror.' -Christy Lefteri, author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo; 'This book is unique, original and, most importantly, a joy to read - a masterclass in short story writing.' -Christopher Fielden, award-winning and Amazon best-selling author; 'Hotel du Jack is funny, sad, excruciating and poignant.' -Alex Woolf; 'Brotzel's prose style is anarchic and economical. His dialogue fizzes along brilliantly and he's genuinely a laugh-out-loud writer, but with some real pathos and depth to his characters too.' -C.M. Taylor, author of Premiership Psycho and Staying On; 'Funny , but also touching,and sometimes a little bit odd.For that I truly enjoyed them.' -Louisa, NetGalley; 'A contemporary collection with 21st century themes. Brexit, Trump, Alexa and other themes abound, but never does the author skimp on the portrayal of characters... A great read.' -Philipa, NetGalley