Wild Abandon

Ata once vibrant communal-living property in the British countryside,back-to-basics fervor has given way to a vague discontent. A place that oncebuzzed with activity, from the polytunnels to the pottery shed, now functionswith a skeleton crew. Founder Don Riley surveys his domain with the grim focusof someone who knows what's best for everyone-and isn't afraid to let themknow. Especially when those people are related to him.

Don'swife, Freya, can't quite decide whether not liking someone anymore is enoughreason to end a twenty-year marriage. So she decamps to a mud yurt in the woodsto mull it over. Their seventeen-year-old daughter, Kate, enrolls in school forthe first time in her life: the exotic new world of fellow teenagers andsurprisingly tasty cafeteria food beckons, and she is quickly lured into thearms of a "meathead" classmate. In his sister's absence, eleven-year-old Albertfalls under the spell of an outlandish new visitor to the community who fillshis head with strange notions of the impending end of the world.

Facedwith the task of rescuing his son from apocalyptic fantasies, his daughter fromthe clutches of suburbia, and his wife from her increasingly apparent desire toleave him, Don convinces himself that the only way to save the world he'screated is . . . to throw the biggest party of his life. Will anyone show up?

Fromthe acclaimed young author of Submarine, Wild Abandon is a strange andwonderful look at love-familial and romantic, returned and rebuffed-andthe people and places we choose to call home.

JoeDunthorne's first novel, Submarine, has beentranslated into ten languages and made into a feature film. His debut poetrycollection was published in 2010. He lives in London.