A Real Piece of Work

A Real Piece of Work has all the hallmarks of my favourite kind of novel: introspective, funny, philosophical, and bringing the outside world in. I love Freya Bromley’s writing and her gift for capturing emotions and ideas that so often feel impossible to pin down -- Emma Gannon A tender and intricate novel. Bromley writes grief with unflinching clarity, charting its quiet tremors through family life. It’s like looking at a family portrait through the shards of a broken frame -- William Rayfet Hunter A Real Piece of Work is a kaleidoscopic look at all the different shapes of love and longing. Bromley astutely observes the way grief can shape desires: for a relationship, for a career, for a fresh start. A strong debut voice promising wit and wisdom -- Sarvat Hasin The isolated island [of Lundy] is the perfect setting for a performance in moral inquiry. -- Jade Angeles Fitton A heartfelt, nuanced debut novel which adroitly balances the tension of opposites: both mordantly funny and radiantly joyful, snarky and earnestly tender – how does a complex family keep going after grief? What are the boundaries between art and lies, being a bystander or an active participant in your own life? I so admired and enjoyed how this novel doesn't shy away from unlikeable feelings or thorny question, it has the texture of real life and the universality of good fiction. A REAL PIECE OF WORK candidly interrogates these big questions and is also a sparkling ode to London, sisterhood and finding the sublime in the everyday. -- Sharlene Teo