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Following a move to the Netherlands, a young woman dissects her confrontation with boredom and unease. In her newfound isolation, she develops an unusual friendship with a woman she neither likes, nor can keep away from. As her feelings of dislocation grow, larger anxieties about her purpose – or lack of it – begin to encroach. Intimate, incisive and brilliantly observed, Temper explores loneliness, self-worth and disconnection with head-nodding accuracy.

Phoebe Walker is a poet and novelist from Northumberland, currently living in Manchester. Her poetry has received an Eric Gregory Award, the Mairtín Crawford Poetry Award, and a Northern Writers' Award. Temper is her first novel.