Forty years ago, VC Andrews’ novel about incest, rape and murder-by-doughnut was declared ‘deranged swill’, but new books under her name still sell. Why?Forty years ago this month, Flowers in the Attic, the debut novel of one VC Andrews was published. A review in the Washington Post didn’t mince its words, describing it as “deranged swill” that “may well be the worst book I have ever read”.The plot is nothing if not deranged – but even 40 years later, utterly compelling. Cathy and Chris Dollanganger and their little brother and sister, Cory and Carrie, are beautiful, blond-haired and as happy as can be until their handsome father dies. Their destitute mother tells them that in order to regain the fortune from which she has been disinherited, they must hide in their grandparents’ vast attic for a few days so she can persuade their grandfather to reinstate her as his heir.The most terrible things about my childhood probably were those that I created in my mind Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-11-14 14:02:15 UTC ]
Omar Khalifah’s debut novel resists the demand placed on those who have experienced historical atrocities to tell their stories. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2024-12-05 16:22:00 UTC ]
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‘This set of characters are simultaneously medieval kings and modern aristocrats.’ Allen Bratton on adapting the Henriad and his debut novel Henry Henry. The post Podcast | Allen Bratton appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta
[ Granta | 2024-11-29 14:09:08 UTC ]
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Bestselling author who enjoyed overnight success with her debut novel A Woman of SubstanceIt was Graham Greene who inadvertently launched Barbara Taylor Bradford, who has died aged 91, on the road that would lead, in 2003, to her induction into the Writers Hall of Fame of America, alongside Mark... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-11-25 16:52:30 UTC ]
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Hogarth signs a debut novel by Woody Brown, the first nonspeaking graduate of UCLA, and Atria takes a steamy sports romance trilogy by Melanie Iglesias Perez. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-11-22 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Daniel M. Lavery’s debut novel collects vignettes from inside the Biedermeier, a second-rate, rapidly waning establishment in midcentury New York City. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-10-12 09:00:34 UTC ]
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In Clement Goldberg’s madcap and campy debut novel, cats, plants, alien intelligences, and a group of human misfits conspire to make us all freer and more joyfully connected. New Mistakes offers a hilarious, surreal, and sexy new vision of queer collectivity—one that involves the living earth... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-10-02 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Lauren Elkin’s debut novel Scaffolding traces the parallel lives of two psychoanalysts living in the same Belleville apartment 50 years apart. In 1972, Florence and her new husband, Henry, settle into their new home. But as Florence delves deeper into her intellectual pursuits, she begins to... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2024-09-26 12:00:00 UTC ]
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FSG signs a debut novel by the inaugural recipient of the FSG Writer’s Fellowship, Tami Hoag re-ups at Dutton, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-09-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Jacquie Walters' debut, 'Dearest,' is a horror novel about new motherhood, including the demands of a breastfeeding infant, as well as how postpartum hormones affect a woman's psyche. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-09-16 10:00:29 UTC ]
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At the beginning of Khuê Phạm’s debut novel Brothers and Ghosts, translated by Charles Hawley and Daryl Lindsey, the narrator makes a confession: “I don’t know how to pronounce my own name.” It’s not something you hear often and something unimaginable for many. But for Kiều, the young Vietnamese... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-09-10 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover of Sky Daddy by Kate Folk, which will be published by Random House on April 08, 2025. You can pre-order your copy here. Cross the jet bridge with Linda, a frequent flyer with a dangerous obsession, in this hilarious and provocative debut novel... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-09-05 11:03:00 UTC ]
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Ledia Xhoga’s debut novel Misinterpretation opens with the unnamed narrator, a translator from Albania, accepting an assignment to interpret for a Kosovar torture survivor named Alfred. Elements of Alfred’s story map onto her own family’s experience, and the narrator becomes all-consumed by his... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-09-04 11:00:00 UTC ]
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In the first drafts of my debut novel Medusa, I was consumed by the idea of what it meant to be a monster in a story you didn’t control. Medusa is one of the most recognizable monsters of Greek mythology, with the writhing mass of snakes for hair and the turning people to stone with […] The post... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-08-12 11:05:00 UTC ]
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In the Blink of an Eye was praised at the Theakston Old Peculier crime writing festival as ‘changing the way we think about policing forever’A “boundary-pushing take on the police procedural” which features a human detective working with an AI sleuth in order to solve a missing persons case has... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-07-19 16:29:44 UTC ]
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Set among the fevered residents of a remote Australian town, Ruby Todd’s debut novel considers how grief can draw people to extreme beliefs. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-07-16 09:00:27 UTC ]
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It’s the spring of 2021, and the pandemic is beginning to slide away from us in ways that still feel impossible. But there is work to do. There is lost time to make up for. Even though I have a debut novel publishing this summer, I have been getting rejection after rejection for every literary […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-07-12 08:56:22 UTC ]
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Bullwinkel’s debut novel sheds light on the culture of youth women’s boxing through an ensemble cast of complicated characters. It packs a punch. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-06-28 20:00:57 UTC ]
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Starring an undergraduate student at Oxford, Rosalind Brown’s debut novel is exquisitely attuned to the thrill and boredom of academic life. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-06-22 09:00:56 UTC ]
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Alex Sammartino’s debut novel Last Acts opens on David Rizzo, owner of a failing firearms store located in an Arizona strip mall, en route to the hospital to retrieve his estranged son Nick, an addict who has just briefly experienced death in the form of a drug overdose. Grappling with what to... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-05-29 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Alexander Sammartino’s debut novel Last Acts opens on David Rizzo, owner of a failing firearms store located in an Arizona strip mall, en route to the hospital to retrieve his estranged son Nick, an addict who has just briefly experienced death in the form of a drug overdose. Grappling with what... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-05-29 11:00:00 UTC ]
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