Weak Teeth by Lynsey May has a bit of bite

(Polygon, £9.99)

We’ve probably all had dreams about our teeth falling out. It’s a classic sign of anxiety or grief. Shiny, regular teeth are associated with health, attractiveness and financial security. Problem teeth are a source of intense pain, constant distraction and lowered self-esteem. And for the great many people with a phobia of dentists, getting their tooth problems fixed can be an even more daunting prospect than putting up with them. By making teeth the central metaphor of her debut novel, getting its welcome paperback release this month, Lynsey May not only gives her protagonist’s inner turmoil a physical presence but taps into a universal, relatable fear.

Office worker Ellis comes home to her Edinburgh flat one evening to be hit with an unexpected bombshell. Her boyfriend Adrian announces that he’s having an affair with a colleague and she has to move out over the next few days. After all the time and commitment Ellis has put into their relationship, Adrian thinks that letting her take away various items of furniture she paid for is as about as much as she deserves.

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Without the money to rent or put down a deposit on a new flat, Ellis goes back to live with her mother. She’s finding it hard enough to cope with being tossed aside for another woman. But now that her romantic relationship is over, her dysfunctional family dynamic now takes centre stage in her life, with her permanently angry younger sister Lana continually finding fault and picking fights with Ellis, and their mother seemingly always taking Lana’s side to placate her. The passive-aggressive dynamic that has defined their relationship, the fact that they have never fully processed their father’s death and Ellis’s self-pity and lack of self-confidence all contribute to a mounting crisis.

At work, she doesn’t want her colleagues to know about the strain she’s under, so she lies to HR about her circumstances, which gives her some breathing room but will only have worse consequences further down the line. Meanwhile, the ache in Ellis’s jaw following a filling refuses to go away, belying her dentist’s insistence that the pain should be gone by now.

Bad teeth run in her family, and they’ve given Ellis grief all her life, from the teenage humiliation of wearing a brace to false accusations of bulimia brought about by the acids corroding her enamel. Her relationship with dentists has always been problematic. So when she discovers that her mother’s new flame, Trevor, is not only substantially younger than Mum but a dentist to boot, she instantly takes against him. Her mother’s announcement that she’s thinking of selling the family home puts the sisters on a war footing, as they suspect that Trevor has ulterior motives. Lying to her colleagues, fighting Adrian for a share of the flat and stalking his new girlfriend, Ellis is getting dangerously close to cracking up.

Weak Teeth by Lynsey May (Image: free)

The cover art and the setting give Weak Teeth the outward appearance of a forgettable holiday potboiler – a light diversion in which a heroine with a hapless but not irredeemable love life dots between the kitchen, the office and coffee dates with friends, bewailing her mother’s choice in men – and May’s breezy tone ensures that it can be skated through just as easily. But it digs far deeper into despair, and issues of self-image and mental health.

May knew what she was doing with the dental metaphor. She scrupulously probes, exploring sensitive areas and occasionally touching a nerve. Weak Teeth has just the right balance for diverting – but not disposable – summer reading with a bit of bite.