Synopsis
'Fans of Elizabeth Strout and Anne Tyler will devour it.' - Daily Mirror
Darkly witty, deeply moving – Jackie Polzin's Brood is a startlingly original debut novel about motherhood, marriage and grief, full of sorrow, joy and unrelenting hope.
Over the course of a single year, our nameless narrator heroically tries to keep her small brood of four chickens alive despite the seemingly endless challenges that caring for another creature entails – and all the while struggling to confront her own recent loss. From the forty-below nights of a brutal Minnesota winter to a sweltering summer which brings a surprise tornado, she battles predators, bad luck, and the uncertainty of a future that may not look anything like the one she always imagined.
'Full of surprise, humor, grief, and wisdom.' - Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
'The most vibrant and compelling slice of life I’ve been privy to in a great while.' - Claire Lombardo, author of The Most Fun We Ever Had
'Splendidly unsentimental, quirky, witty, smart and a complete one-off.' - Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures
Details
Reviews
“Darkly funny and poignant.
”Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train
“Brood, which chronicles a year of grief subsumed through care, abounds in wit, charm, and the very mystery of being.”Joy Williams, author of The Visiting Privilege
“Oh, did I love this book and its magnificent cast of characters—human and avian alike. Brood is the most vibrant and compelling slice of life I’ve been privy to in a great while—it’s generous, original, and witty, an absolute treasure of a novel.”Claire Lombardo, bestselling author of The Most Fun We Ever Had
“A truly lovely book, and so perfectly balanced – it felt like a masterclass in how to tell a story through restraint.”Jessie Greengrass, author of The High House
