We Spread

Penny, an artist, moves into a long-term care residence after experiencing a series of "incidents." She initially feels comfortable among her peers, but as the days blur together, she begins to lose her grip on time and her place in the world. Is she succumbing to the effects of aging, or is she part of something more sinister? This novel explores themes of conformity, art, productivity, relationships, and what it means to grow old.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 14 September 2023
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd

Penny, an artist, has resided in the same apartment for decades, surrounded by the artifacts and keepsakes of her long life. She resigns herself to the mundane rituals of old age, until things start to slip. Before her longtime partner passed away years earlier, provisions were made, unknown to her, for a room in a unique long-term care residence, where Penny finds herself after one too many "incidents."

Initially, surrounded by peers, conversing, eating, sleeping, and looking out at the beautiful woods that surround the house, all is well. She even begins to paint again. But as the days start to blur together, Penny—with a growing sense of unrest and distrust—starts to lose her grip on the passage of time and on her place in the world. Is she succumbing to the subtly destructive effects of aging, or is she an unknowing participant in something more unsettling?

At once compassionate and uncanny, told in spare, hypnotic prose, Iain Reid's genre-defying third novel explores questions of conformity, art, productivity, relationships, and what, ultimately, it means to grow old.

'I loved this book and couldn't put it down—a deeply gripping, surreal, and wonderfully mysterious novel. Not only has Reid given us a brilliant page-turner, but a profoundly moving meditation on life and art, death, and infinity. Reid is a master.'

Mona Awad, author of 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl and All's Well

Weight: 214g
Dimension: 198 x 130 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781398504165