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LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMENS PRIZE FOR FICTION 2023

The darkly comic new novel from the bestselling author of The Portable Veblen

Incredibly funny and very moving BELLA MACKIE
A blissful novel that I want to give to everyone I love NINA STIBBE
Even funnier even more romantic than McKenzies wonderful last KAREN JOY FOWLER
Penny Rush has problems Freshly divorced from her mobile knifesharpener husband she has returned home to Santa Barbara to deal with her grandfather who is being moved into a retirement home by his cruel second wife Her grandmother meanwhile has been found in possession of a sinister sounding weapon called the scintilltor and something even worse in her woodshed Pennys parents have been missing in the Australian outback for many years now and so Penny must deal with this spiralling family crisis alone
Enter The Dog of The North The Dog of the North is a borrowed van replete with yellow gingham curtains wood panelling a futon a pinata clunky brakes and difficult steering It is also Pennys getaway car from a failed marriage a family in crisis and an uncertain future This darkly dryly comic novel follows Penny as she sets out in The Dog to find a way through the curveballs life has thrown at her and in doing so find a way back to herself