Brolly and Gill are two obese people who love (over) eating, but they don’t describe themselves as obese or overweight, and neither do they use descriptions like ‘plus size’ or ‘body positive’. As far as they are concerned, they’re just ordinary people. Who can hardly get out of bed. Who use mobility scooters to get around. And, sure, they occasionally take part in gut-busting eating competitions in South London’s less salubrious pubs and pig-out joints, and are gargantuan legends in their local area, but there’s nothing wrong with that, is there? Trouble is, Brolly’s not so sure. He’s just seen one of his best mates eat himself to death and wants to get off the junk food mountain, but how is he going to tell Gill, and how on earth will she react? Like other classic literary duos, S.E. Hinton’s Rusty-James and Motorcycle Boy, Newton Thornburg’s Cutter and Bone and Sam Byers’ Maya and Zelma (to name a few), Simon Rumley’s Brolly and Gill, find their union fraying and deteriorating at a crossroads that challenges all their previous assumptions. Something just has to give. Like all great novels The Wobble Club ‘shows rather than tells’ - there is no condescension, there are no judgements as our intrepid duo’s unbelievable life in bad food choices meets its final challenge. Scabrous, sad-as-hell, hugely compulsive, Simon Rumley’s brilliantly written Wobble Club is a brand-new favourite.

The Wobble Club – Simon Rumley – Whitefox Publishing Ltd - £10.99

Steven Long