About Uncle
by Rebecca Gisler
£12.99
Available to pre-order for delivery on publication (February 2024), or subscribe now to receive this title in December.
In a small seaside town on the French coast lives Uncle. He shares his house with his niece and nephew, who look after him when they could be doing something – anything – else. A disabled veteran with odd habits, Uncle is prone to drinking, hoarding and gorging, not to mention the occasional excursion down into the plumbing, where he might disappear for days at a time. As the world begins to shut down, Uncle and his niece are forced even closer still. She starts to watch his every move – every bathroom break he takes, every pill he swallows – and finds herself relying on this man, her only companion.
144pp (tbc), paperback with flaps, £12.99
ISBN 978-1-908670-93-9
Out to subscribers: December 2023
Publication date: February 2024
Press & Reviews
‘Disquieting, tender, painfully precise, the language of Gisler is a language of embodiment. To read Uncle is to become him.’ – Molly McGhee, author of Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind
'About Uncle is a diamond-sharp gem of a novel about the inescapable bonds of family. Once you meet him, you, too, will never be free of Uncle.' – Stephen Sparks, Point Reyes Books (Point Reyes, CA)
‘Gisler urges us to reflect on what it is to be different. The uncle stumbles through life, as does the narrator and her brother. Together they reveal a hidden aspect of society, full of invisible people who are square pegs in round holes.’ – Les Inrockuptibles
‘A penetrating novel on disability, family relationships and modern times.’ – Florence Bouchy, Le Monde des livres
‘About Uncle is a novel of rare originality. A revelation from a unique talent.’ – Swisscommunity.org
About The Book
Translator
Jordan Stump is one of the leading translators of innovative French literature. The recipient of numerous honors and prizes, he has translated books by Nobel laureate Claude Simon, Jean-Philippe Toussaint, and Eric Chevillard, as well as Jules Verne’s French-language novel The Mysterious Island. His translation of NDiaye’s All My Friends was shortlisted for the French-American Foundation Translation Prize.
