Notes on Surviving the Fire
A razor-sharp, darkly funny literary novel about male violence, a woman's vengeance, and whether killing can ever be justified
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- 6,49 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
'Savage, brilliant, merciless and mad as hell' FINANCIAL TIMES
'A thriller's bones, a satire's glare, and a comeuppance story's anarchic spirit' NEW YORKER
'Lives up to the hype' SUNDAY TIMES STYLE
Nathan says he loves me because I let him see me, and he knows how hard that is. He appreciates that I let him in. I say I love him because he is not a dick, in a world full of dicks.
Sarah Common is a survivor. She survived the brutal Maine winters where she learned to hunt; she survived the petty politics of the university where she teaches; she survived the fact that her attacker escaped justice and still walks free around campus. Or at least that's what she tells herself.
Nathan was the only person who believed what happened to Sarah. And now Nathan is dead. For Sarah to survive once again, she must find out what happened to Nathan - and decide whether, this time, she should seek justice . . . or revenge.
More praise for NOTES ON SURVIVING THE FIRE:
'A seething, fearless story wound so tight I held my breath from page one. Brilliant!' - NATALI SIMMONDS, author of GOOD GIRLS DIE LAST
'Murphy writes with the nimbleness of a hunter: muscularly and with precision, while also propelled by undercurrents of cold, simmering fury and hot, big-hearted empathy.' - AUBE REY LESCURE, Women's Prize-shortlisted author of RIVER EAST RIVER WEST
'Furious, fast-paced, emotionally resonant and memorable. I'll be thinking about this one for a while yet.' - ILANA MASAD, Los Angeles Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Murphy debuts with a bold and complex thriller that tackles rape culture and academic bureaucracy with a pinch of Buddhist philosophy. After police dismiss the death of Sarah Commons's best friend, Nathan, as an accident, Sarah decides to launch her own inquiry. The two were graduate students in a Southern California religious studies program, and Nathan became Sarah's main supporter after she was raped by another man in their department. While investigating Nathan's death, Sarah starts to wonder if his demise is linked with the many deaths documented in a memorial tunnel on campus, and begins to suspect her rapist might be involved. As she contemplates revenge, she draws on lessons from the religious texts she's studying, as well as those she learned while hunting with her father as a child. Murphy traverses multiple genres over the course of Sarah's investigation, dark academia, amateur detective fiction, revenge thriller, and social satire among them. Though the tonal shifts can induce whiplash, Murphy establishes a convincing sense of psychological realism while making salient points about the challenges women face in the aftermath of sexual violence. Readers seeking a tidy conclusion may be unsatisfied, but those in the mood for more challenging fare will be rewarded.
