This one is a slow burner. For the first third I was intrigued, and not entirely sure if I wanted to invest. But the story builds slowly and about halfway through I realized I didn’t want to put it down. 

Ordinary Hazards takes place over one evening in a small town bar called The Final Final. Our main protagonist and narrator, Emma, is sitting at the bar sipping whiskey, surrounded by regulars who she has known for the better part of 5 years. As drinks are consumed Emma narrates her own story, as well as those of the people around her. She is recently divorced, her ex-husband, Lucas, is the real regular in The Final Final, as it resides in his hometown, but barely sets a foot in there as he knows she still frequents the place. The regulars are all his friends rather than Emma’s. Over the course of the evening we learn about their relationship with each other and everyone else, but we also follow the present tense actions of everyone hanging out in the bar.

Emma specializes in storytelling, it’s actually something she is paid to teach, which I found to be a brilliant touch on the part of the author. A master storyteller, telling an ordinary story of love, and loss, and grief, that becomes an extraordinary story for the reader. 

There are two build-ups in the narrative: what is happening now, in the bar, and what happened before, leading Emma to be in the bar alone on this specific night. As the reader uncovers each layer, slowly, you know you may not be able to handle the final reveal, the tears building behind your eyes, but you also know that you need to know the whole story anyway. 

Anna Bruno’s prose is witty, smart, and creates a real story nestled in an average day in an average small town amongst ordinary people. Don’t be put off by the complete ordinariness of it all at first - nothing is really ordinary, and no one shows all of their facades at first glance anyway.

Great read, even though it broke my heart a little and had me hold on to my loved ones a little harder. 

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.