little scratch

**Shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2021****An Observer 10 Best Debut Novelists of 2021**'An extremely perceptive depiction of power and agency.' Guardian'Startlingly original.' VOGUE'Extraordinary.' New Yorkerlittle scratch tells the story of a day in the life of an unnamed woman, living in a lower-case world of demarcated fridge shelves and office politics; clock-watching and WhatsApp notifications. In a voice that is fiercely wry, touchingly delicate and increasingly neurotic, the protagonist relays what it takes to get through the quotidian detail of that single trajectory - from morning to night - while processing recent sexual violence. little scratch is about the coexistence of monotony with our waking, intelligent lives.It is a powerful evocation of how the external and internal aspects of our lives exist in a helix, and what it means to live out the course of a single day consumed by trauma. 'Wry, funny and heartbreaking.' Sophie Mackintosh'little scratch is a story that is urgent. It is a story that needs to be told.' Meena Kandasamy'Reads like the cinders settling in the air after an explosion...daring and completely readable.' Colin Barrett'little scratch is a little miracle... impossible to read it and not wish there were more books like it.' Alan Trotter'Confident and vital... little scratch is an absolute gift.' Naoise Dolanwww.rebeccawatson.co.uk little scratch tells the story of a day in the life of an unnamed woman, living in a lower-case world of demarcated fridge shelves and office politics;