Teenage meat-packer Delia Chapman’s claim that she has encountered a group of aliens is at first considered temporary insanity because of the stresses of her job. For how else can her story, which gains her instant tabloid fame and the envy of her catty friends, be explained? Things get stranger when Delia realizes she’s pregnant, but remembers little more of her supernatural experience than lights and noise. When two of Delia’s friends also disclose their pregnancies and likewise blame the spacemen, the town of Opunake begins to buzz with reporters.

In this sprightly, quirky novel, McCarten adeptly describes the snowballing effects of national publicity and town gossip.

'McCarten’s dramatic gifts – with characterization, plot, dialogue and humour – shine through this sparkling novel. Domestic violence, the frustrations of small-town life, the blessings of beauty and pain of ugliness, the boredom of factory work – all of these are woven into a story which is a quirky good read and an entertaining expression of the zeitgeist.' The Observer

'Spinners combines the cultural savvy of an episode of The Simpsons with the formally meticulous confusion/resolution of a Shakespeare comedy... McCarten’s lively prose style is a pleasure to read.' Times Literary Supplement

'A beautifully constructed comedy which wryly observes a small town’s foibles with a subtle-but-hip sensibility.' Esquire, Books of the Year

'McCarten is part barker, part juggler, part aerialist. He hangs attributes on his characters as if they were caps and bells, and he has these unwitting jesters say and do thigh-slapping things...' New York Times Book Review

'Bright, witty and hilarious: McCarten knows exactly how far to push the envelope, and he doesn’t let up until the last minute.' Kirkus Reviews

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Read an excerpt from Spinners

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