Total

(Paperback, Main)

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Description

A pregnant mother of two finds herself increasingly in thrall to her help, Nat. For Joad, the discovery of a haunting typewritten 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. Deftly navigating the fault lines of relationships - new, established or remembered - Total is a powerful collection of brilliantly imaginative stories. 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.

Reviews

'Wit and coolly slaying wisdom are constant delights in these emotionally complex stories . . . cinematically vivid' - Observer

'Miller knows and is playing with . . . all the ways stories and lives infinitely repeat. You've never quite seen them inhabited by these versions of these characters, nor at the tenor of these sentences, with these deftly deployed layers of surprise' - New York Times

'Miller's new collection shows her in many moods and modes, from wistful to comedic to speculative. What a pleasure!' - JEFFREY EUGENIDES

'A "cinematic prose style" is often a critical cliche, but in the case of Rebecca Miller, no other descriptor suffices . . . [a] captivating, coolly spare new collection' - Oprah Daily

'The characters in Total are instantly recognisable - they are privileged, deluged by memories and in situations fraught with anxiety, but Miller manages to offer a fresh perspective on old conundrums' - Daily Mail

Author Bio

Rebecca Miller is a writer and director. She is the author of The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, a Sunday Times bestseller and Richard & Judy Book Club pick, which she also adapted for screen; 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.