Bri, a schoolteacher, and his wife, Sheila, have a ten-year-old child named Josephine who has cerebral palsy. Joe is non-verbal, completely helpless and utterly dependent. Bri hides behind irony and sarcasm. Sheila, believing the child is her penance for a promiscuous past, soldiers on devotedly with their little “Joe Egg.” Well-meaning family and friends offer sundry solutions, including everything from adoption to euthanasia, but ultimately Bri finds he cannot continue, leaving Sheila and Joe behind.

Published by Faber

88 pages

Condition; VERY GOOD clean copy