Book Club - Sinead Stubbins’ Stinkbug

Sinead Stubbins is a writer, editor and cultural critic, and the author of In My Defence, I Have No Defence. Her debut novel is Stinkbug. The advertising agency where Edith works is going through a restructure. Everyone is worried that the new Swedish owners will bring their own team and they’ll be out of a job. When a select group are chosen for a corporate retreat Edith assumes that this is her chance to show her worth. The assignment is simple; find a best work friend. Easy for Edith, she’s already got Mo and so the retreat should be a piece of cake. I mean what could go wrong in a converted Convent watched over by a saint called Christina the Astonishing?! — I found Stinkbug an absolutely wild ride. Full disclosure, I don’t work in the sort of corporate environment where you get sent on retreats, although I have done the odd team planning day. For all I know the narrative of Stinkbug could be an accurate reflection of modern corporate culture. I really hope not though. Stubbins has offered us up the perfect satire of the modern workplace. The sort of story that confirms all our worst fears whilst also inviting us to root for… probably Edith but at the very least that they all get out of this alive. As the team from Winked arrive at Consequi (yes, the names) we have already learned a little about the cast of misfits masquerading as the impossibly hip and talented. Our point of view, Edith is variously a complicated mess of neuroses, or an aloof and intimidating cool kid in the company. That all important perspective is going to become very important as we not only delve deeper into Edith’s psyche but also fall down the rabbit hole of Consequi’s attempts to break down the barriers of the Winked employees and make them a better family of creatives.    Edith is fearful she is the perpetual outsider and this has made her an almost perfect cipher and corporate chameleon. I genuinely vacillated between loving and hating her machinations, and am still a little unsure how I feel about the narrative's resolution. The story treats us to the banal and unhinged things that can happen on a corporate retreat. The stakes are constantly being upped by the impossibly calm ‘Group Leaders’ and only Edith seems to get that something weird is going on. But then again, for all I know psychological warfare is completely normal in modern office settings. The uncertainty is part of the fun of Stinkbug and so maybe I should just say that this book had me giving the odd snort of laughter that I generally try to avoid unless I’m completely alone. As an outsider to the culture I found it fascinating; both hilarious and horrifying. I’m hoping to meet a corporate insider who can give me more insights into whether or not this really was just a fever dream!