A grieving family acquires a rabbit.

This new soft centre of Melanie Cheng’s novel, which follows Amy, Jin and their daughter Lucie in the aftermath of the drowning death of Lucie’s younger sister, makes the sweet, quiet calm of the rabbit almost absurd. 

A beautiful kind of prose; restrained, domestic and exact, attentive to the tiny negotiations by which people continue after catastrophe. The title nods to Kafka, for its interest in safety, enclosure and the fantasy of hiding away. The rabbit, such an ordinary creature, forces a traumatised family back into relation with appetite, mess, tenderness and mortality. Devastating without becoming solemn about itself.

Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2025. Reprint; first published 2024. Paperback. Very light shelf wear only; internally clean and unmarked, binding firm. Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2025 shortlist sticker to front cover.