Ten stories set in Hackney. Ten intertwined lives. A dole officer learns how to poach rabbits. A banker’s devotion to his allotment threatens his day job. An advice worker wrestles with parasites. A jilted lover speculates on the nature of torture. A teacher meets a mysterious stranger. A group of climate activists fail to organise the proverbial in the brewey of (very) late capitalism. How we live now. In the words of Muriel Spark, for those of you who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you will like.

Author Elizabeth Carola grew up in New York and has lived in London for many years. Her short fiction, poetry and nonfiction has appeared in various journals and anthologies including The Common Thread (Methuen), Groundswell (Diva), From the Flames, and Trouble and Strife. Her play, Cut, appeared at the King’s Head, Hackney in 2002. Apart from two, the ten previously unpublished stories in Hot were written between 2003 and 2006. Hot is her first collection.