The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

WAIT IS THE HYPE ACTUALLY REAL – THE RABBIT HUTCH

“Mummy why are you awake in the middle of the night”? Behold the power of a book that is a vortex from the first pages, sucking you in so that you lose a sense of time & place.

From around page three I was pacing, thinking bloody hell this woman @tessguntyis a brilliant writer, & this is a debut (horrifying). I didn’t sleep, I didn’t move. I just read. 

Oh fine sometimes all the praise is clearly utterly deserved – I present to you Exhibit A. The Rabbit Hutch. Published in July, it’s won a whole collection of awards, from @waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, @netgalley book of the year oh & a US National Book Award to name a few.

Full disclosure I wasn’t even that enamoured by the synopsis, & I don’t know why I picked it up. But the mastery of language & humanity here convinced me in minutes. 

The Rabbit Hutch is an apartment block in a dying American town with a colourful assortment of inhabitants the story line flits in between. Building up to the moment of violence that all are connected to, the characters are drawn out so carefully & with such precision, I felt like I knew them. 

There are twists, moments of hilarity, poignance & many different (sometimes overlapping) ideas that blend to make your head spin. An ethereal lost girl, obsessed with saving the town from corporations, mystics & philosophy, previously ensnared by a teacher, a bizarre son dealing with the trauma of an uncaring mother, teen boys in care all searching for validation, a young mother struggling. 

Even if the plot doesn’t work for you, I think her ability to pinpoint a tiny detail of a character & use it to create a recognisable person or issue is undeniable.

Let me know if you have read this one, as ever love to hear what you thought!

Ad:PR Copy gifted from publisher with no contractual obligation to review.