The Very Nice Box

(Paperback)

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Description

Ava Simon designs storage boxes for STAEDA, a slick Brooklyn-based furniture company. She's hard-working, obsessive and heartbroken from a tragedy that killed her girlfriend and upended her life. It's been years since she's let anyone in.

But when Ava's new boss the young and magnetic Mat Putnam offers Ava a ride home one afternoon, an unlikely relationship blossoms. Ava remembers how rewarding it canbe to open up and, despite her hesitancy, she starts to fall for him. But what if Mat isn't who he claims to be

The Very Nice Box is a darkly comic and suspenseful novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat until its gripping finale. It's at once a satire of toxic masculinity and a big-hearted account of grief, friendship and trust.

'The Very Nice Box possesses the rare quality of perfectly balanced quirky humour and genuine warmth. Gleichman and Blackett manage to include the reader on the inside joke and withhold just enough to make this, unmistakably, a page turner. Witty, charming and astutely observed - I loved it' Laura Kay, author of The Split

'Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman are linguistic magicians, and their sparkling debut manages to expose the hollowness of wellbeing jargon while exploring, with tender care and precision, how we dare to move on after

unspeakable loss' New York Times Book Review

'A very funny debut and perhaps the most original office satire of the year' Washington Post

'Rather than boxing in queerness, the authors suggest queerness as a lens for seeing, reading, and, arguably, for their own storytelling, which refuses trite or stereotypical generic moments. The story charms, it entices, and it keeps the reader in their hands, wanting more' Los Angeles Review of Books

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Reviews

Red flags spur thriller-like suspense while incisive observations on corporate life's cult-like nature sharpen the satire in this pleasingly idiosyncratic office romcom * Observer *
Laugh-out-loud funny... This unusual satire about office culture has humour and heart * Good Housekeeping *
A slick comedy-drama thriller * Sainsbury's Magazine (Book Club Choice) *
Serves up romance and thrills whilst exploring toxic masculinity, grief and friendship. Full of wit, this is one you'll want to immediately add to the bedside table to-be-read pile * Diva *
Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman are linguistic magicians, and their sparkling debut manages to expose the hollowness of well-being jargon while exploring, with tender care and precision, how we dare to move on after unspeakable loss * New York Times Book Review *

Author Bio

Eve Gleichman & Laura Blackett are neighbours and writing partners based in Brooklyn, New York. Eve is a fiction-writer with work in The Kenyon Review, The Harvard Review and BOMB Magazine, and is a graduate of Brooklyn College's fiction MFA program. Laura is a woodworker and writer. Eve Gleichman & Laura Blackett are neighbours and writing partners based in Brooklyn, New York. Eve is a fiction-writer with work in The Kenyon Review, The Harvard Review and BOMB Magazine, and is a graduate of Brooklyn College's fiction MFA program. Laura is a woodworker and writer.