The Tick and the Tock of the Crocodile Clock

Wendy just wants to be a poet. So how comes she's on the run after an art heist? 'May well be the best book I've read in years' - Peter May An aspiring writer from the Southside of Glasgow, Wendy is in a rut. She tries to brighten her call-centre job by shoehorning as many long words as possible into conversations with customers. But her manager isn't amused by that and, after a public dressing-down, Wendy walks out. Jobless and depressed, she finds consolation in a surprise friendship with another disgruntled ex-colleague, wild-child painter Cat, who encourages her to live more dangerously. It's just what Wendy needs and it's also brilliant for her creative juices. But a black cloud is about to overshadow this new-found liberation, as well as to put Wendy on the wrong side of the law. Fresh, insightful and funny, as well as unflinchingly honest about the tougher side of life, Kenny Boyle's debut novel takes us deep into the psyche of a likeable misfit who treads a fine line between reality and fantasy - and just wants the world to see her true self.

Kenny Boyle is a writer and actor born on the Isle of Lewis. He trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and holds a masters in classical and contemporary text, as well as an honours degree in English, literature and theatre studies from the University of Strathclyde. He is the star, alongside Natalie Clark, of the multi-award winning short film Perfect Strangers 񢉟) and of the feature-film follow-up Lost at Christmas 񢉤). His plays include Playthrough and An Isolated Incident, and in 2021 he received a New Playwrights Award from the Playwrights' Studio, Scotland. The Tick and the Tock of the Crocodile Clock is his debut novel. Having grown up equally in both the bustling city of Glasgow and the tiny crofting village of Cromore, he likes to write about mental health, isolation, identity and - most of all - hope. He spends way too much time reading comics and playing video games.