Archives de catégorie : Frankfurt 2023 Adult Fiction

THE STORYTELLER de Faiqa Mansab

Healing generational trauma through storytelling and solving the mystery of three murders.

THE STORYTELLER
by Faiqa Mansab
Neem Tree Press, June 2024
(via Randle Editorial & Literary Consultancy)

Layla, a scholar of stories, lives a quiet, predictable life until one day she finds a dead woman in her library.

Mira is a renowned storyteller. When a corpse turns up in a red cloak with a note to her from the murderer, she must join forces with Layla and enter the realm of Story for answers in a bid to save herself and her daughter.

This novel is immersed in Sufi literature, Sufi storytelling techniques and fairy tales, but at its heart it is a murder mystery. The story is set in the U.S. and is also about the wounded relationship of a mother and daughter, how they heal their relationship while they solve the murders with the help of fairy tales retold, and old secret Sufi stories. It is Elif Shafak’s Forty Rules of Love meets Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.

THE STORYTELLER explores the healing of wounded motherdaughter relationships through the magic of Sufi storytelling.

Faiqa Mansab is a Pakistani writer. She holds an Mphil in English Literature, an MFA in creative writing with a high distinction from Kingston University London and an MA in Gender and Cultural Studies from Birkbeck University London. She has written and continues to write for numerous publications both local and international. Her debut novel This House of Clay and Water (2017) was longlisted for Getz Pharma Fiction Prize and the German Consulate Peace Prize at the Karachi Literature Festival 2018. Faiqa lives in Lahore with her family. Faiqa is agented by Annette Crossland at A for Authors LitAg.

NORMAL WOMEN d’Ainslie Hogarth

In this darkly comic story about how we value female labor—and don’t—a new mother becomes embroiled in danger when her friend, a controversial entrepreneur, goes missing.

NORMAL WOMEN
by Ainslie Hogarth
Vintage, October 2023
(via Wolf Literary Services)

When her daughter Lotte was born, Dani had welcomed the chance to be a stay-at-home mother. To be good at something, for once. But now Dani can’t stop thinking about her seemingly healthy husband, Clark, dropping dead. Not because she hates him (not right now, anyway) but because it’s become abundantly clear to Dani that if he dies, she and Lotte will be left destitute.

And then Dani discovers The Temple. Ostensibly a yoga center, The Temple and its guardian, Renata, are committed to helping people reach their full potential. And if that sometimes requires sex work, so be it. Finally, Dani has found something she could be good at, even great at; meaningful work that will protect her and Lotte from poverty, and provide true economic independence from Clark.

Just as Dani is preparing to embrace this opportunity, Renata disappears. And Dani discovers there might be something else she’s good at: uncovering secrets.

Ainslie Hogarth is the author of the novels Motherthing, The Lonely and The Boy Meets Girl Massacre (Annotated). She lives in Canada with her husband, kids, and little dog.

THE NUDE de C. Michelle Lindley

Cerebral and escapist, THE NUDE blends the moody atmosphere of Katie Kitamura’s A Separation and the complex gender dynamics and traumas of Lisa Taddeo’s Animal.

THE NUDE
by C. Michelle Lindley
Atria, June 2024
(via Wolf Literary Services)

THE NUDE opens as art historian Elizabeth Clarke arrives on a remote island in Southern Greece, sent to acquire a rare female nude sculpture for a Los Angeles collection. Disoriented by time zones, migraines, and the suspicious details surrounding the figure’s discovery, she’s dependent on her flirtatious but guileless translator. The last thing she expects is to be so pulled to his wife, Theo, a subversive artist who has amassed a small following for her provocative self-portraits, which seek to deconstruct the objectification of the female form.

As Elizabeth immerses herself in the island’s cobblestoned mazes and sumptuous cuisine, and falls deeper into an infatuation with Theo—and Theo’s art—she starts to question her role in the acquisition of cultural artifacts. And when, after a hazy night out, both Elizabeth and the nude are violated in divergent but damaging ways, Elizabeth begins to see a parallel between the sculpture and herself. What does it mean for a woman to navigate morally complicated negotiations of property in a male-directed world? What other kinds of ownership—or self-ownership—might be possible?

THE NUDE questions the exploitative transactions between art museums and nations, between institutions and the individual, and between men and women. While the plotting is taut, the reading experience is lush and full-sensory.

C. Michelle Lindley’s work can be found in Conjunctions, The Georgia Review, The Masters Review, Meridian, and elsewhere. She was accepted to Tin House’s 2022 summer workshop (but unable to attend), and has an MFA in Creative Writing from Cornell University and a BA from the University of Berkeley in English and Art History.

THE BURROW de Melanie Cheng

THE BURROW tells an unforgettable story about grief and hope. With her characteristic compassion and eye for detail, Melanie Cheng reveals the lives of others—even of a small rabbit.

THE BURROW
by Melanie Cheng
Text Publishing, September 2024

Amy, Jin and Lucie are leading isolated lives in their partially renovated inner-city home. They are not happy, but they are also terrified of change.

When they buy a pet rabbit for Lucie, and then Amy’s mother, Pauline, comes to stay, the family is forced to confront long-buried secrets.

Will opening their hearts to the rabbit help them to heal or only invite further tragedy?

Melanie Cheng is a writer and general practitioner. She was born in Adelaide, grew up in Hong Kong and now lives in Melbourne. Her debut collection of short stories, Australia Day, won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2016 and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction in 2018. Room for a Stranger, her highly acclaimed first novel, was published in 2019.

TO THE RIVER de Vikki Wakefield

A compulsively readable, character-driven psychological thriller about two determined women who, over the course of three suspenseful weeks, take the law into their own hands to reveal the truth about a shocking crime. Vikki Wakefield’s compelling story is about class, corruption, and big-picture values of love, loyalty and the vindication of truth and justice. And a very brave dog called Blue.

TO THE RIVER
by Vikki Wakefield
Text Publishing (Australia), February 2024

How long can you hide the truth?

The Kelly family has always been trouble. When a fire in a remote caravan community kills nine people, including 17-year-old Sabine Kelly’s mother and sister, Sabine confesses to the murders. Shortly after, she escapes custody and disappears.

Journalist Rachel Weidermann has long suspected Sabine made her way back to the river. Now, twelve years after the ‘Caravan Murders’, and having recently been made redundant from her marriage, motherhood and career, she has the time and the tenacity to corner a fugitive and land the story of the year.

Rachel’s ambition lights the fuse leading to a brutal chain of events, and the web Sabine weaves will force Rachel to question everything she believes. Vikki Wakefield’s compelling psychological thriller is about class, corruption, love, loyalty, and the vindication of truth and justice. And a brave dog called Blue.

Vikki Wakefield writes fiction for adults and young adults. Her novels have been shortlisted for numerous awards. After You Were Gone, a psychological thriller, was her first novel for adults and was published in 2022 to much acclaim. TO THE RIVER is her second psychological thriller for adults. Vikki lives in Adelaide, South Australia.