Little Boxes

Matthew's grandfather dies without warning, and the loss lands on a group of four friends who are already carrying old wounds. Set in a coastal city during a sweltering summer, the book follows how the heat and the sense of being hemmed in seem to press on everyone at once.

Leah and Jay have been together since school, but their bond comes under strain. Nathan is caught up in a deep love that is never returned, and Matthew is working through his sexuality while grief and memories of earlier hardship weigh on him.

As the days pass, Matthew starts to uncover the life his grandfather led, one full of hidden details. He comes to suspect that the two of them shared more than he had ever realised. Told as a coming-of-age story, the novel looks at friendship, love, loss and the will to keep going.