Promotional Information

An astonishing novel of love, loss, and revenge from highly acclaimed writer Louise Doughty.

About the Author

Louise Doughty is the author of five novels - Crazy Paving, Dance with Me, Honey-Dew, Fires in the Dark and Stone Cradle - and one book of non-fiction, A Novel in Year, based on her hugely popular Daily Telegraph column. Doughty also writes radio plays and journalism and broadcasts regularly for BBC Radio 4, as well as teaching for the Faber Academy. She lives in London.

Reviews

"An unflinching reckoning with sudden, unbearable loss and obsessive vengeance. . . . Both elegy and thriller. . . . Doughty's success lies in how intimately she engages readers to face, with Laura, the dailyness of tragedy and the ways in which suffering can blind us to our culpabilities."--"Boston Globe"

"Masterful. . . . This deeply psychological story, told in first person, recalls some of the best of Gothic literature. . . . But unlike Gothic fiction, love lies at the heart of this story. . . . Gorgeously structured."--"Cleveland Plain Dealer"

"You never wonder about character motivation; [Doughty's] treatment of the reasons behind each event is so thorough that even the strangest circumstances become understandable."--"Bust Magazine"

"[A] pulse-quickening literary thriller."--"Marie Claire"

"Seldom have the subjects of love, loss, and retribution been treated with such emotional power as they are here. Award winning English author Doughty, who is intrigued by the effects of accidents, has written a masterfully structured novel that is as indelible as it is painful."--"Booklist" (starred review)

"A heartfelt and affecting story."--"Publishers Weekly"

"A powerful portrait of loss and its psychological consequences."--"Independent"

"An incident-packed, emotionally fraught revenge tragedy. . . . Emotionally raw, sexually frank, psychologically unpredictable."--"The Guardian"

"Gripping, absorbing, beautifully constructed, and written with great sensitivity."--Hilary Mantel, author of "Wolf Hall"

"Like Zoe Heller, Doughty is masterful at combining the texture of ordinary, smugly middle-class, contemporary life with the hidden cliff edges of violence and hatred."--"Sunday Telegraph"

[A] fiercely nuanced novel about love and loss. . . . Reminiscent of Alina Bronsky's Broken Glass Park, this portrait of a mother's disintegration and gradual coming to terms with her new reality is a powerful depiction of love, loss, and retribution."--"Library Journal" (starred review)

"An unflinching reckoning with sudden, unbearable loss and obsessive vengeance. . . . Both elegy and thriller. . . . Doughty's success lies in how intimately she engages readers to face, with Laura, the dailyness of tragedy and the ways in which suffering can blind us to our culpabilities."--"Boston Globe"
"Masterful. . . . This deeply psychological story, told in first person, recalls some of the best of Gothic literature. . . . But unlike Gothic fiction, love lies at the heart of this story. . . . Gorgeously structured."--"Cleveland Plain Dealer"
"You never wonder about character motivation; [Doughty's] treatment of the reasons behind each event is so thorough that even the strangest circumstances become understandable."--"Bust Magazine"
"[A] pulse-quickening literary thriller."--"Marie Claire"
"Seldom have the subjects of love, loss, and retribution been treated with such emotional power as they are here. Award winning English author Doughty, who is intrigued by the effects of accidents, has written a masterfully structured novel that is as indelible as it is painful."--"Booklist" (starred review)
"A heartfelt and affecting story."--"Publishers Weekly"
"A powerful portrait of loss and its psychological consequences."--"Independent"
"An incident-packed, emotionally fraught revenge tragedy. . . . Emotionally raw, sexually frank, psychologically unpredictable."--"The Guardian"
"Gripping, absorbing, beautifully constructed, and written with great sensitivity."--Hilary Mantel, author of "Wolf Hall"
"Like Zoe Heller, Doughty is masterful at combining the texture of ordinary, smugly middle-class, contemporary life with the hidden cliff edges of violence and hatred."--"Sunday Telegraph"
[A] fiercely nuanced novel about love and loss. . . . Reminiscent of Alina Bronsky's Broken Glass Park, this portrait of a mother's disintegration and gradual coming to terms with her new reality is a powerful depiction of love, loss, and retribution."--"Library Journal" (starred review)