Weak Teeth: Scottish Book of the Month

Our summary description

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

Ellis’s life collapses without ceremony. Her boyfriend has left her for someone else, her work is precarious, her money is gone and her teeth are failing her. With nowhere else to turn, she is forced back to her childhood home, where comfort proves elusive. Her mother is dating a younger man who happens to be a dentist and is planning to sell the house. Her sister Lana is simmering with anger. A distant cousin has arrived from America and shows no sign of leaving.

As a long, oppressive Edinburgh summer drags on, Ellis spirals. Toothache becomes constant, her ex refuses to compensate her for their flat, and late night scrolling turns into an unhealthy fixation on his new lover. Everything feels fragile, raw and on the brink.

Funny, sharp and painfully relatable, this is a novel about heartbreak, self worth and learning when to hold on. It asks whether Ellis can recognise, before it is too late, that the bite she was born with is worth keeping.