Why Don't You Love Me? - by Paul B Rainey

Book Synopsis

A family gets lost in the shuffle of reimagining their lives in this dark, domestic sci-fi comedy

Claire and Mark are stuck in the doldrums of an unhappy marriage. She chain-smokes and refuses to leave the house or even change out of her bathrobe. He sleeps on the couch and can't distinguish one day from the next. With all love lost for family life, pizza and Chinese food take turns on a nightly take-out dinner menu.

Husband and wife are plagued by the idea that this is all a dream. Why can't Mark ever remember their son's name? Isn't he a barber? Doesn't he play in a band? Why is Claire obsessively stalking her ex-boyfriend online? When exactly did she stop caring about what the kids wear to school? And just why can't she be bothered to tell the other mums at pick-up apart? Didn't Claire and Mark have different lives? As reports of an imminent nuclear war make subtle waves on the radio, the truth begins to dawn on them...

Paul B. Rainey's critically-acclaimed sleeper hit returns in supple paperback with an all-new cover. Why Don't You Love Me? is a hilariously terrifying meditation on mourning lost opportunities, rolling with the punches, and confronting reality as it turns on you--one day at a time. Rainey's tightly plotted relationship drama shifts into a science-fiction mindblower and keeps you surprised until the final heartbreaking panel.

Review Quotes

"Clever and uncompromising." --Rachel Cooke, The Guardian

"[A] sly dark comedy with an eerie sci-fi twist." --Publishers Weekly

"Too delightful to spoil. For maximum satisfaction, audiences need to personally discover Rainey's graphic ruses-- unfiltered and unbiased." --Booklist

"A powerful, haunting work from an artist at the top of his game." --Lindsay Pereira, Broken Frontier

About the Author