Synopses & Reviews
A genre-warping, time-travelling horror novel-slash-feminist manifesto from the author of the acclaimed Paradise Rot
Welcome to 1990s Norway. White picket fences run in neat rows and Christian conservatism runs deep. But as the Artist considers her work, things start stirring themselves up. In a corner of Oslo a coven of witches begin cooking up some curses. A time-travelling Edvard Munch arrives in town to join a death metal band, closely pursued by the teenaged subject of his painting Puberty, who has murder on her mind. Meanwhile, out deep in the forest, a group of school girls get very lost and things get very strange. And awful things happen in aspic.
Jenny Hval's latest novel is a radical fusion of queer feminist theory and experimental horror, and a unique treatise on magic, writing and art.
Review
"Hval, who is known for using body imagery to express political ideas about art, depicts cultish rituals to subvert what she sees as 'the restrictive framework of our daily lives.'" — New Yorker
Review
"Astute." — Kirkus Reviews
Review
"An incendiary genre-bending novel....Hval's fascinating exploration is not for the faint of heart, but those who like it dark will find this right up their alley." — Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Norwegian writer and musician Jenny Hval has honed an intellectual and uncompromising view of politics and sexuality in her prose as well as in records that include Blood Bitch; Apocalypse, Girl; and Innocence Is Kinky. Her debut novel, Paradise Rot, was published to acclaim in 2018.