Rabbits: included in The Times best paperback books of 2025 (Paperback)

Our summary description

As Independent Scottish booksellers, we write all of our descriptions personally, we hope you enjoy this one.

When Tommo arrives at a prestigious boarding school in the early nineties, he is suddenly immersed in a world far removed from his middle class upbringing. With new independence comes an invitation into crumbling country houses, where privilege lingers but certainty has long since eroded.

The elite he encounters are adrift, alienated from the mainstream and running low on inherited wealth. They cling to ritual, snobbery and excess, masking a deep unease about their fading relevance. At first, Tommo is dazzled by their confidence and seduced by their hedonism. Slowly, darker undercurrents emerge. Rage simmers beneath the surface, threatening to erupt.

This is a world where half remembered traditions blur with decadence and cruelty, where small dead animals are common and boundaries are easily crossed. When the brother of Tommo’s friend Johnnie is found dead with a shotgun at his feet, the unspoken truths of this closed society are forced into the light.

A tense, unsettling novel about class, complicity and violence.