BRAT: A Ghost Story

Brat is a darkly comic and unique debut novel by Gabriel Smith that explores the messy, messed-up business of living, dying, and having a family. Gabriel is dealing with grief, a dead father, an editor, a girlfriend, and a family home for sale. The novel is filled with gothic horror, deadpan humor, and a damning sense of alienation. Smith's writing is praised for its sharp style, eerie atmosphere, and deep insight into grief and the modern age. The novel has received critical acclaim, with reviewers describing it as "disquieting and hilarious," "brilliant on grief, madness, and creativity," and "a mediation on grief, art, and love that will leave you altered, breathless, and desperate for more."

Format: Hardback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 06 June 2024
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd

Brat is a raucous tale of the chaotic, messed-up business of living, dying, and having a family, brimming with dark, deadpan humor. The Financial Times praised it as a "moving coming-of-age family story," while the Observer dubbed it "iconic." Gabriel's life is in shambles: his skin is falling off, his father is dead, he owes his editor a novel, his girlfriend won't answer his calls, and his well-adjusted brother has tasked him with clearing out the family home for sale. As Gabriel delves into his parents' old manuscripts, he discovers that they seem to change every time he reads them, and a bizarre home video hints at long-buried secrets. Meanwhile, a hideous man lurks in the garden.

Disquieting and hilarious, taut yet lyrical, blisteringly paced but formally inventive, Brat is a meditation 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.

The novel is told from the perspective of Gabriel, a writer struggling with numerous issues. Gabriel's foibles, ghostly visions, and uncertainties filter every moment, creating a deeply gothic work that never quite settles the reader in a certain world. The novel is written in short, clipped chapters, featuring uproarious dialogue and a picaresque tone.

Brat is a captivating and unique debut that will leave readers eagerly anticipating the next installment from this talented author.

Weight: 406g
Dimension: 233 x 144 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781398525313