Temper by Phoebe Walker 
Thanks to Netgalley and Fairlight books for approving this title. I was super excited for this, the sound of it made me think of Fault lines by Itami and Intimacies by Kitamura. Both I really liked, so I was sure to love this one as well. A woman starting a new life in the Netherlands feeling disconnected. This is written in a stream of consciousness style, which I now realise I don't like. I had trouble following the narrator. By the point where she explains that she dislikes London, she lost my sympathies. Jokes aside, I couldn't connect to her, and the style made it hard for me to care or stay interested.

I really loved this book, I went in to it with no expectations and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful writing and the relatability of the narrator. It's a short read but powerful, and I got through it really quickly, I found it difficult to put down! Thanks so much for the early copy, I'll definitely be recommending this to colleagues & book friends :-)

a woman moves to the netherlands and experiences the loneliness of language barriers and an obsession with another woman named colette. subtle, but poignant, “temper” is an insight into one woman’s post-graduate life and the way she copes (or does not) with isolation.

this is a quick read, yet the story spans an entire year. spring, winter, autumn, and summer are the four brief sections of “temper.” throughout each season, more and more tension builds between the narrator and colette. they don’t even particularly enjoy each others’ company, yet they stick together in a cruel way. it was a slow start, but did become very, very interesting. i feel that it should have been elongated a bit and expanded upon. the brief moments of amazement are there, but fleeting.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and Fairlight Books for sending me this advanced copy for review.

Temper is essentially the narrator’s inner thoughts following her recent move to the Netherlands with her partner, a move which is triggered by her partner’s job.

We never learn the narrator’s name yet I felt so connected with her and her inner thoughts. She doesn’t find socialising as easy as those around her and we join her on an awkward journey navigating her new life and desperate need to belong.

Phoebe Walker does a truly stunning job at portraying the strange frustration between wanting to fit in yet wanting to keep others at a distance.

The story really made me think about how much we associate our ‘purpose’ with how others perceive us. The narrator here struggles with feeling like she doesn’t have a purpose, purely because other people don’t seem to need her or crave her attention as much as she craves theirs.

I usually don’t enjoy books where nothing significant happens, but I got through Temper in one sitting and it’s definitely one I’d recommend for 2023!

Our unnamed narrator has moved with her partner to the Netherlands, setting up as a freelance copywriter. His job comes with a readymade social life to which our narrator awkwardly attaches herself, aware she has little of interest to offer. Catching herself sliding into apathy, she tries out at a choir where she meets Colette, abrasive, nosy and pushy, who demands her number, firing off a string of texts as soon as they part. She drifts on, filling the free time she’d longed for with pointless tasks, occasionally meeting Colette who is at first persistent but gradually backs off until it’s our narrator who appears to be stalking her. She longs to be a part of something, to belong somewhere, increasingly feeling that she’s losing her sense of herself but not knowing how to restore it. Threaded through her experience in this new country where she doesn’t entirely understand social conventions nor speak the language, are memories of her earlier life, some in stark contrast to this new, lonely existence. Walker’s brief novella is an unsettling read, an intimate interior monologue which becomes increasingly discomfiting as our narrator’s isolation takes hold.