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Synopses & Reviews
A wickedly insightful, darkly funny novel in which a young woman in the grip of an existential malaise moves to a new city for a fresh start but her attempt at reinvention doesn't quite go to plan
"A compelling, raw, and thrillingly strange outsider tale of loneliness and deception. Setton is a wonderful writer who, with this sharp debut, adds to the great canon of contemporary anti-heroines." Mona Awad, author of Bunny
"On the run from responsibility and lying about her compulsions, the unreliable narrator in this unsettling debut is fascinating company..." The Guardian
When Daphne arrives in Berlin, the last thing she expects is to run into more drama than she left behind. Of course, she knew she'd need to do the usual: make friends, acquire lovers, grapple with German and a whole new way of life. She even expected the long nights gorging alone on family-sized jars of Nutella, and the pitfalls of online dating in another language. The paranoia, the second-guessing of her every choice, the covert behaviors? Probably come with the territory.
But one night, when Daphne is alone in her apartment, something strange, unnerving and entirely unexpected intervenes, and life in bohemian Kreuzberg suddenly doesn't seem so cool. Just how much trouble is Daphne in, and who - or what - is out to get her?
Channelling the modern female experience with razor-sharp observation and a trenchant wit, Berlin announces Bea Setton as an electrifying new voice for her generation.
Review
"What a wonderful, keen, bright, hilarious, twisted narrator Bea Setton has created! I loved this novel from its first page to the last." Tom Franklin, New York Times bestselling author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
Review
"Setton expertly portrays the wily, seductive nature of addictions and dysfunctions, and her novel's humorous voice belies horrors both small and large…Raw thriller meets darkly funny coming-of-age for an enjoyable, unsettling debut." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"A moving and rollicking tale of self-delusion…Well-plotted while still capturing the meandering feeling of Daphne's unbound life, and with deliciously handled foreshadowing, Setton's sharp novel of stunted plans is compulsively readable and ultimately devastating." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
About the Author
Bea Setton was born in France and spent her early years in the Parisian suburbs before moving to the US to study philosophy. Upon graduating, she relocated to Berlin, and the city became the inspiration for this novel. She currently divides her time between London and Cambridge, where she is studying for a PhD and working on her second book.