Poets Are Eaten as a Delicacy in Japan opens as 30-year-old Tommie Shaw is shown a newspaper report by her panicked sister Georgie revealing that their mother, Gloria, is set to release a new memoir.

What follows is an engaging and rewarding black comedy, as Tommie and Georgie’s panic spirals and they clamor to control Gloria while also dealing with the painful legacy of their fatherless childhood. A series of flashbacks to Tommie’s teenage years help to explain her now destructive and out-of-control lifestyle as an adult.

Poets Are Eaten as a Delicacy in Japan also tackles heavy subjects, including suicide and self-harm, with a light touch that feels honest rather than glib. Poets Are Eaten as a Delicacy in Japan is the story of a dysfunctional family, but more importantly, about facing fears and moving on.