Publisher's Synopsis
One morning, 14 people, 14 phone calls, infinite fates...
Nina is driving along a deserted country road on a dull November morning, her mind in turmoil as she contemplates what the future holds for her family if her cancer treatment proves unsuccessful. She is shaken out of her anxious introspection when she comes across a young man stood on the edge of a bridge. Once she gets out of her car, she unwittingly starts a series of events in motion that will impact through the lives of thirteen other people; men, women and children that she doesn't know, and will most likely never meet.
The Call is a portmanteau style novella, telling the seemingly disparate stories of fourteen individuals trying to make sense of their lives alongside the caprices of fate and the behaviour of those closest to them. The stories include Tim, waiting to see if his lover is going to meet him, and debating whether or not to leave his wife; a refugee, desperate for news of his missing sister; a chef, coming to terms with the news that he has a grown-up son; and a young woman, looking into the void as she contemplates the most drastic of ways to escape her abusive father. Each of the stories is linked by a phone-call or text; either anticipated or unexpected; but each time taking them in new directions or presenting choices that have the potential to radically change their lives. The story of Nina and The Man on the Bridge open and close the novella, and is one that is fully resolved. The other stories, however, are, by varying degrees left open - leaving space for the reader to build possible futures for each character.
Through fourteen very personal stories, The Call explores the effect of modern life's most ubiquitous object, and its power as a bringer of joy, stasis or bitter disappointment. It also describes our now interconnected lives and how we all struggle to have agency in our own stories, within a world where communication has expanded beyond our wildest dreams.
