Two sisters unite to survive a traumatic upbringing--from absentee parents to a wilderness camp for troubled teens--in this "relentless and spooky" (Joy Williams) debut from an essential new voice. ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022--Good Housekeeping, Autostraddle, The Millions "When the Juvenile Transportation Services come for you in the night in a preordained kidnapping, complete with an unmarked van and husky guardsmen you can't outmatch, you have been sold for a promise." A young woman thinks she has escaped her past only to discover that she's been hovering on its edges all along: She and her younger sister bide their time in a dilapidated warehouse in a desolate town north of New York City; their parents settled there with dreams of starting an art commune. But after the girls' father vanishes, all traces of stability disappear for the family, and the girls retreat into strange worlds of their own mythmaking and isolation. As the sisters both try to survive their increasingly dark and dangerous adolescences, they break apart and reunite repeatedly, orbiting each other like planets. Both endure stints at the Veld Center, a wilderness camp where troubled teenage girls are sent as a last resort, and both emerge more deeply warped by the harsh outdoor survival experiences they must endure and the attempts by staff to break them down psychologically. With a mesmerizing voice and uncanny storytelling style, this is a remarkable debut about two women who must struggle to understand the bonds that link them and how their traumatic history will shape who they choose to become as adults.
Author: Ariel Delgado Dixon
Publisher: Random House
Published: 02/15/2022
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.14lbs
Size: 9.57h x 6.47w x 1.29d
ISBN: 9780593243503
Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 12/06/2021
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2022
Author: Ariel Delgado Dixon
Publisher: Random House
Published: 02/15/2022
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.14lbs
Size: 9.57h x 6.47w x 1.29d
ISBN: 9780593243503
Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 12/06/2021
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2022
About the Author
Ariel Delgado Dixon was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey. Her short stories have appeared in Kenyon Review, The Mississippi Review, The Greensboro Review, and elsewhere. She received her MFA from Boise State University and currently lives in Philadelphia.