Total

Description

A middle-aged novelist devoid of inspiration alights on material in the form of an obsessive pet-shop worker from Cincinnati. A pregnant mother of two finds herself increasingly in thrall to her help, Nat. For Joad, the discovery of a haunting type-written document in an old desk in need of restoration is overwhelming. And when Roxanne rescues her sister from an institution, she comes to realise how vulnerable they both are. Each of the seven stories in Total is a full world, painted with vivid strokes. From the comforting mundanities of motherhood to a technologically infected near future that mirrors our present with dark prescience, each life captured in this collection is unforgettable. Deftly navigating the fault lines of relationships - new, established or remembered - Total is a powerful collection of brilliantly imaginative stories, and eloquent proof of Rebecca Miller's writing prowess. 'Miller is an excellent novelist' - KATE ATKINSON 'Miller is a luminous writer' - OLIVIA LAING 'A talented and highly visual writer' - New York Times

Rebecca Miller is a writer and director. She is the author of The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, a Sunday Times bestseller and Richard Personal Velocity, her feature film of which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, and Jacob's Folly. Her film work includes Angela, The Ballad of Jack and Rose and Maggie's Plan. Her work has been published in thirty-two languages.

'Miller is an excellent novelist' - KATE ATKINSON 'Miller is a luminous writer' - OLIVIA LAING 'A talented and highly visual writer' - New York Times 'Miller's writing is vigorous, powerful, riveting' - SADIE JONES '[Miller possesses] the soaring eye of the epicist and the sly instinct of the satirist' - New Yorker