Brood

Book excerpt: Completely original, full of surprise, humor, grief, and wisdom and just the right amount of chickens.' Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves ‘The coop houses no predators, but the chickens do not know this. A chicken knows only what it can see. A chicken’s life is full of magic. Lo and behold.’ Meet Gloria, Gam Gam, Darkness, Miss Hennepin County, and their unlikely owner. Over the course of a single year, our nameless narrator heroically tries to keep her small brood of four chickens alive despite the seemingly endless challenges that caring for another creature entails. From the freezing nights of a brutal winter to a sweltering summer which brings a surprise tornado, she battles predators, bad luck, and the uncertainty of a future that may not look anything like the one she always imagined. Brood by Jackie Polzin is a darkly funny, deeply moving and startling original debut novel of motherhood and grief, full of sorrow, joy and unrelenting hope. Perfect for fans of Jenny Offill and Elizabeth Strout.