"Comparing a story to toothache might not seem like a compliment, but for this debut coming-of-age novel about finding yourself after heartbreak, it really is "
Lynsey May throws you straight into Ellis’ grief, shame, and shock from her break-up, and the reader roots (can I make some kind of root canal pun there?) for her immediately. Lynsey May has an eye for shiny details and polished turns of phrase: in the devastation of rooting through her shared laundry basket with her sudden ex: ‘she’s been so stupid, mistaking proximity for intimacy all this time’; describing toddlers as ‘such hatred contained in such tiny bodies, it’s amazing they function at all’; or the new dentists’ which has ‘a giant cuddly tooth called Mr Shine’.
Weak Teeth is a debut novel that feels very cleanly considered; it’s aesthetically and structurally cohesive, and I enjoyed the attention to detail – like starting chapters with obliquely relevant teeth facts. If you are a fan of Reasons to be Cheerful by Nina Stibbe you might enjoy this adjacent witty dentist-themed novel, though May’s humour is more wry and aching than Stibbe’s jollity. Delicate, tense, concentrated, with a burning pain at its core.
'[A] warm and witty exploration of our hidden vulnerabilities' - Catherine Simpson
Ellis's life has crumbled without warning. Her boyfriend has fallen in love with someone else, her job's insecure, her bank account's empty and she has a mouthful of unreliable teeth. Forced back to her childhood home, there is little in the way of comfort. Her mum is dating a younger man (a dentist, no less) and is talking of selling the house, her sister, Lana, is furious all the time, and a distant cousin has now arrived from the States to stay with them.
During a long, hot Edinburgh summer, Ellis's world spins out of control. She's dogged by toothache, her ex won't compensate her for the flat and somehow she's found herself stalking his new lover on Facebook.
Will Ellis realise before it's too late that the bite she was born with is worth preserving?
'There's a huge emotional punch packed into this deceptively light novel' - Sally Morris, Daily Mail
For fans of Sally Rooney, Meg Mason and Marian Keyes.