A Hunger is the story of Anita: a talented sous chef at a high-end London restaurant. At home, however, her husband Patrick is suffering from dementia and declining rapidly. As she is thrown between two conflicting worlds - the exciting bustle of her kitchen and her exhausting new role as a carer - Anita must make a decision: about her husband's future, as well as her own. A decision complicated by ambition and the guilt of her own past - and by her intensifying friendship with another man, Peter, and the temptation of a new life.
A Hunger is a novel about love and sacrifice; how illness and duty affect ordinary lives – exploring what it means to look after somebody at the end of a life: what we owe to our loved ones, and to ourselves.
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FROM THE REVIEWS
“A superb achievement. This is fiction put to work on some of the hardest and, alas, most commonplace ethical dilemmas about value, choice and freedom… beautifully unshowy… With each novel, the immersion in particular circumstances is so complete that I have caught myself wondering if Raisin is a farmer, a shipbuilder, a footballer, a carer. Then I remember with relief that I don’t need to know: he is a novelist.”
– The Guardian
“His third novel, A Natural, was one of the best books of 2017, though weirdly overlooked by prize juries. His new novel, A Hunger, is its equal, and his most ambitious achievement yet. It reminded me of those cliched blurbs promising that a book ‘tells us what it means to be human’ – which they rarely do. Yet here is one that does just that, encompassing work and family, desires and appetites, responsibility and identity.”
– The Observer
“A moving, unusual and beautiful novel. His subtle attention shows him yet again as a master-writer for the contemporary age, its fragmentation, disappointments and intense desires.
– The Irish Times
“There can be no doubt he’s one of our best novelists… This is a superlative novel, full of compelling flesh-and-blood characters. Absolutely not to be missed.”
– Daily Mail
“Sentence after sentence full of fizz, yet never showing off.”
– Daily Telegraph
“Startling descriptive prose.”
– Sunday Times
“The attention paid to detail lends a sense of control that contrasts beautifully with Anita’s conflicted emotions… Despite her circumstances, she’s no victim.”