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A Sense of Occasion

The hilarious, wild and moving new summer novel

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A Sense of Occasion

Written by: Brodie Crellin
Narrated by: Ell Potter
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A death in the (dysfunctional) family – can they hold it together long enough to organise the funeral?

When Mary dies, Patch can barely keep track of her mother’s journey from the hospital to the mortuary, let alone host a wake in her childhood home.

Mary's ex Robin wants to support his daughter but, but instead of acting like a responsible father, he heads to his former haunt: the lay-by where he used to meet farmers for sex.

Jude is en route. She hasn't spoken to her cousin Patch in almost a year, and would rather stay in Naples, but she's hoping that her attendance will mean that past behaviour is forgiven.

Thrown together in Mary’s tiny house, each of them is trying to feel something: to grieve, atone, join in, be better. But they rarely have one another’s best interests at heart, and as the connections between them twist and contort, they lose sight of the rules and grasp towards anything that might make it all less painful.

'Sexy, terrifying, keen and startling' DAISY JOHNSON
'At once shrewd and ethereal' CHRIS KRAUS
'A rare, funny novel' NICOLA DINAN

© Brodie Crellin 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

 Dark Humour Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction
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Critic Reviews

Crellin has a genius for tracking the internal logic behind all kinds of catastrophically bad behavior. A Sense of Occasion is a wonderful book, at once shrewd and ethereal. (Chris Kraus)
Crellin is an astonishing writer, their sentences ring like bells and are so sharp and perfect. This book is sexy, terrifying, keen and startling (Daisy Johnson)
An outstanding debut by a singular voice. A Sense of Occasion favours honesty over sentimentality, embracing the claustrophobic atmosphere of totally dysfunctional families. A rare, funny novel (Nicola Dinan)
Perfectly paced; sexy and intelligent and truly profound on the costs of living and performing one’s sexuality in public and private (Merve Emre)
So smart, often so funny, and incredibly moving, Brodie Crellin explores love, desire, family, and dynamics of power, care and dependence with total honesty. Brodie's amazing on the complex, often fraught relationships between the family and the individual, on the psychological asymmetries inherent to intimacy, and on the ways that reality can start to feel contingent on the presence of another person. Masterfully constructed, yet so vivid and absorbing that I frequently forgot it was constructed at all. A profound, immersive, visceral, tender, deeply accomplished and completely unique novel (Harriet Armstrong)
An immensely fun read in which prickly, awkward people do prickly, awkward things in such soft, funny, human ways that you cannot help but be charmed by them all. A delight! (Lizzy Stewart)
Unforgettable. . . Crellin explores the boundless complications of sexuality, desire and love with rigor, intelligence and humor. Here are characters and relationships which feel strange, distinctive and always true (Rachel Connolly)
A stylish debut, funny and fluent and surprising. Brodie Crellin is interested in the things we talk about, think about and do with our bodies to avoid squaring up to grief (Tom Lamont)
A Sense of Occasion is a magnificent debut, and a game changer. I can't remember the last time I read something so bold, tender, sexy and funny (Camilla Grudova)
A cracking read, unapologetic in its transgression: a dark domestic comedy of kinks and class… a wickedly sharp and impressive first outing for those with the stomach
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