Bad News

A darkly brilliant and unflinching exploration of addiction, family trauma, and the destructive power of the past.

In Bad News, the second novel in Edward St Aubyn's acclaimed Patrick Melrose series, we follow Patrick to New York as he travels to collect his father's ashes. Struggling with heroin addiction and haunted by memories of childhood abuse, Patrick navigates a hellish 24 hours of drug-fueled desperation while grappling with the complex emotions surrounding his father's death.

St Aubyn writes with razor-sharp wit and brutal honesty about addiction, creating a protagonist who is both deeply damaged and surprisingly sympathetic. Through Patrick's drug-addled consciousness, we witness the ways in which childhood trauma can echo through adult life, warping relationships and self-perception in devastating ways.

Despite its dark subject matter, the novel is shot through with moments of mordant humor and piercing insight. St Aubyn's prose is elegant and precise, transforming what could have been a bleak descent into addiction into something approaching art. This is a novel about survival, about the possibility of redemption, and about the courage required to confront the worst aspects of family and self.

Part of the critically acclaimed Patrick Melrose series, Bad News stands as a powerful testament to literature's ability to find meaning in suffering.

Key themes: Addiction and recovery, childhood trauma, family dysfunction, father-son relationships, dark humor, survival, class and privilege