For mature readers

Claire and Mark are stuck in the doldrums of an unhappy marriage. She chain-smokes and refuses to leave the house or even change out of her bathrobe. He sleeps on the couch and can't distinguish one day from the next. With all love lost for family life, pizza and Chinese food take turns on a nightly take-out dinner menu. Husband and wife are plagued by the idea that this is all a dream. Why can't Mark ever remember their son's name? Isn't he a barber? Doesn't he play in a band? Why is Claire obsessively stalking her ex-boyfriend online? When exactly did she stop caring about what the kids wear to school? And just why can't she be bothered to tell the other mums at pick-up apart? Didn't Claire and Mark have different lives? As reports of an imminent nuclear war make subtle waves on the radio, the truth begins to dawn on them.