Stinkbug

You're a stinkbug and they're worried if they come near you, your stench will get all over them and they won't be able to wash it off.'

When Edith and a select group of employees at Winked advertising agency are sent to Consequi, an elite three-day work retreat in the remote mountains, she sees an opportunity to impress her bosses and dodge an inevitable restructure.

But this is no ordinary corporate retreat. Trapped together in the revamped convent, the threat of mass redundancy looming over them, their phones confiscated and the team-building activities becoming increasingly extreme, the 'work family's' cracks begin to widen - and Edith has a secret that threatens to make her the office outcast: the stinkbug. When Edith realises there's something suspicious about Consequi, she's faced with a decision: conform and shut up, or accept stinkbug status and find out what's really going on.

In this wildly original and deeply unhinged story, Sinad Stubbins turns her keen but empathetic eye on the lies we tell about ourselves in order to belong. Part anxious millennial fever dream, part searing workplace satire, this corporate gothic novel is perfect for fans of Yellowface, Nightbitch and Such a Fun Age.

About the Author

Sinad Stubbins is a Melbourne/Naarm-based writer, editor and cultural critic, and the author of In My Defence, I Have No Defence. Her work appears in print, online and on TV.