LoveReading Says
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2016.
Shortlisted for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award 2016.
A young woman relentlessly drives through the darkness of the American roads. Is she fleeing from a misdemeanour? Is she on a mission? Slowly, the pieces of her past come together for the reader to assemble a troubled story where apportioning the blame for some tragic events becomes a most murky business. Allusive, elegant, highly poetic in its evocation of the sounds and spells of night and offering disturbing insights into the confused minds of lost women, this is a striking debut from a young US writer whose reputation has been carved in small literary magazines. The criminal element is muted and the single, unassuming parts knit together to form an unexpected whole and define a character that will stay in your mind for a long time afterwards. Demonstrates crime writing is not always necessarily about bodies and killers and imperfect investigators. ~ Maxim Jakubowski
Chair of the Man Booker 2016 judges Amanda Foreman commented: "This is a very exciting year. The range of books is broad and the quality extremely high. Each novel provoked intense discussion and, at times, passionate debate, challenging our expectations of what a novel is and can be. It is a longlist to be relished.”
The shortlist was announced on 13th September, and the winner will ultimately be named on 25th October, at a black-tie dinner at London’s Guildhall, as broadcast by the BBC.
Played out against the snowy landscape of coastal New England, blending true noir and the eerie, unforgettable books of Shirley Jackson and Flannery O'Connor, this mesmeric, terrifying, sublimely funny debut novel enthralls and shocks, and introduces one of the most original new voices in contemporary literature.
Maxim Jakubowski
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Eileen Synopsis
VINTAGE CLASSICS' AMERICAN GOTHIC SERIES
Spine-tingling, mind-altering and deliciously atmospheric, journey into the dark side of America with nine of its most uncanny classics.
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE*
**FROM THE AUTHOR OF TIKTOK SENSATION MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION**
Trapped between caring for her alcoholic father and her job as a secretary at the boys' prison, Eileen Dunlop dreams of escaping to the big city.
In the meantime, her nights and weekends are filled with shoplifting and cleaning up her increasingly deranged father's messes.
When the beautiful, charismatic Rebecca Saint John arrives on the scene as the new counsellor at the prison, Eileen is enchanted, unable to resist what appears to be a miraculously budding friendship. But soon, Eileen's affection for Rebecca pull her into a crime that far surpasses even her own wild imagination.
'Fully lives up to the hype. A taut psychological thriller, rippled with comedy as black as a raven's wing, Eileen is effortlessly stylish and compelling' The Times
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA NEW BLOOD DAGGER AWARD*
About This Edition
Ottessa Moshfegh Press Reviews
'Fully lives up to the hype. A taut psychological thriller, rippled with comedy as black as a raven's wing, Eileen is effortlessly stylish and compelling.' -- Robert Douglas-Fairhurst The Times
'Captivating... That she's a writer of rare talent and assurance is evident from the start of Eileen: the sentences unspool effortlessly, almost casually, though the material is dark and psychologically complex. The writing is shot through with lovely observation and detail... It's a testament to Moshfegh's skill that she can capture such extremes of light and shadow and, moreover, make us care about a woman who is, in so many ways, intensely dislikeable.' -- William Skidelsky Financial Times
'Perverse, squalid and sinister...expertly paced novel... [A] bravura display of misdirection makes for a guessing game with a genuinely nasty payoff... [Moshfegh] delivers a thumping finish to match the build-up: a single line near the end has the effect of a thunderbolt, leaving us dumbstruck by her sly, almost wicked storytelling genius.' -- Anthony Cummins Daily Telegraph
'There's something far more grubby and gritty here than one expects... Not afraid to peer into the darkest and dirtiest corners of her characters lives, Moshfegh has proved herself an audacious talent, and without doubt one to watch.' -- Lucy Scholes Independent
'Moshfegh is a writer of significant control and range... What distinguishes her writing is that unnamable quality that makes a new writer's voice, against all odds and the deadening surround of lyrical postures, sound unique.' -- Jeffrey Eugenides
'A sucker punch of a novel, full of fury and disgust, heart-wrenching in places, a masterclass in mood and tone. Eileen is a fantastic creation and a surprisingly satisfying antidote to the dozy and complacent heroines of much so-called literary fiction.' -- Julie Myerson
