Cocktail

One of the Globe and Mail 's "Sixty-Two Books to Read This Fall" • Listed in CBC Books Fiction to Read in Fall 2023 • A Miramichi Reader Best Book of 2023 • A Tyee Best Book of 2023 "A writer to watch."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A girl receives a bedtime visit from a drunken party guest, who will haunt her fantasies for years. A young mother discovers underneath the wallpaper a striking portrait that awakens inconvenient desires. A divorced man distracts himself from the mess he's made by flirting with a stranger. These intimate, immersive stories explore life's watershed moments, in which seemingly insignificant details—a pot of hyacinths, a freshly painted yellow wall—and the most chance of encounters come to exert a tidal pull. Set in the swinging sixties and each decade since, Cocktail reveals the schism between the lives we build up around us and our deepest hidden selves. "From quiet reflection to explosive power dynamics in a marriage, Cocktail reveals the schism between the lives we build and our deepest inner selves. Underneath layers of wallpaper and plaster, a young housewife discovers two unnerving portraits. A middle-aged divorcee wrestles with old feelings as she follows her ex, and his realtor, on a tour of a decrepit, overgrown property. During her parents’ cocktail party, a preteen is visited in her bedroom by a drunken guest, a moment that defines her love life for years to come. A lonely professional convinces herself that the working-class boyfriend she dumped in 1984 is her one true love. From 1970s Orlando to contemporary Halifax, Cocktail spans decades of moods and places with precision. These are intimate, immersive stories of life’s unexpected watershed moments, in which seemingly insignificant details exert a tidal pull and chance encounters can irreversibly shape a life."-- Provided by publisher One of the Globe and Mail 's "Sixty-Two Books to Read This Fall" Listed in CBC Books Fiction to Read in Fall 2023 "A writer to watch." Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A girl receives a bedtime visit from a drunken party guest, who will haunt her fantasies for years. A young mother discovers underneath the wallpaper a striking portrait that awakens inconvenient desires. A divorced man distracts himself from the mess hes made by flirting with a stranger. These intimate, immersive stories explore life's watershed moments, in which seemingly insignificant detailsa pot of hyacinths, a freshly painted yellow walland the most chance of encounters come to exert a tidal pull. Set in the swinging sixties and each decade since, Cocktail reveals the schism between the lives we build up around us and our deepest hidden selves.