A young video shop assistant exchanges the home comforts of one mother-figure for a fleeting encounter with another; a brother and sister find themselves at the bottom of a coal mine with a Japanese tourist; a Welsh stag on a debauched weekend in Dublin confesses an unimaginable truth; and a twice-widowed pensioner tries to persuade the lovely Mrs Morgan to be his date at the town's summer festival...
Set in Caerphilly, a sleepy castle town in South Wales, Thomas Morris' debut collection reveals its treasures in unexpected ways, offering vivid and moving glimpses of the lost, lonely and bemused. By turns poignant, witty, and tender - these entertaining stories detail the lives of people who know where they are, but don't know what they're doing.
This is the work of a young writer with a startlingly fresh voice, an uncanny ear for dialogue and a broad emotional range. We Don't Know What We're Doing is a major launch for the Faber fiction list in 2015.
The first book of short stories by Thomas Morris, a young writer whose descriptions of the mundane magic of everyday life make one blissed out beyond envy. (Julie Burchill
Spectator Books of the Year)
A
beautiful, emotionally searching collection of stories about youth, responsibility and growing up. (
Telegraph)
These ten stories are grounded and utterly glorious ... they are distinct but all of a piece, delights to savour.
(
Literary Review)
[T]here's something
radiant about the frankness of his writing. (
Independent)
[Morris'] fresh, direct
writing style feels brand new, slamming the reader up against the chaos of his characters' inner lives in a way that makes you
exhilarated and bruised. (
Metro)
Be warned, these [stories]
will keep you up reading all night. (
the-pool.com)
A
diverting collection. (
GQ)
There's nothing to make you feel old like reading a set of
staggeringly well-crafted short stories written by a 29-year-old ... A talent to watch. (
ShortList)
Astonishingly good. (
Emerald Street)
Touching, sad and lively, this is a great debut from a formidable talent. (
Winq)