num_pages: 336
description: Emma is beginning to wonder whether relationships like mortgages should be conducted in five-year increments. She might laugh if Chris had bought a motorbike or started dyeing his hair. Instead hes buying off-label medicines and stockpiling food.Chris finds Emmas relentless optimism exasperating. A tot of dread a nip of horror a shot of anger  he isnt asking much. If she would only join him in a measure of something.The familys precarious eco-system is further disrupted by torrential rains power cuts and the unexpected arrival of Chriss mother. Emma longs to lower a rope and winch Chris from the pit of his worries. But he doesnt want to be rescued or reassured  he wants to pull her in after him.Darkly funny and beautifully written When the Lights Go Out is a novel for our times: a story about cultivating hope and weathering change.
language: English
title: When the Lights Go Out
publisher: Hutchinson