PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Clare Beams' short story collection was published in October 2016. It won the Kirkus Best Debut and was a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. Clare lives in Pittsburgh, where she teaches creative writing, most recently at Carnegie Mellon University and Pittsburgh Centre for the Arts. This is her first novel.
A top pick for the coming year . . . this haunting novel blends historical fiction with a timely comment on women's bodies and minds, and those who think they can control them. Unmissable. * Stylist * Alcott meets Shirley Jackson, with a splash of Margaret Atwood. It's dark, quirky and even titillating . . . on the edge between realism and ghost story * The Washington Post * 'Subtle, clever, suspenseful . . . builds to a shocking climax' * Diane Setterfield * The Illness Lesson is a brilliant, suspenseful, beautifully-executed psychological thriller. With power, subtlety, and keen intelligence, Clare Beams has somehow crafted a tale that feels like both classical ghost story and like a modern (and very timely) scream of female outrage. I stayed up all night to finish reading it, and I can still feel its impact thrumming through my mind and body. A masterpiece. * Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love * Astoundingly original, this impressive debut belongs on the shelf with your Margaret Atwood and Octavia Butler collections. * New York Times *
