Marion
A Novel
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
AN INDIE NEXT PICK • A LIBRARY READS SELECTION • Named a Most Anticipated Book of Summer by Goodreads • People • Buzzfeed • SheReads • Scary Mommy
"A fiendishly clever feminist remix of Psycho. Rowan’s bold take on Hitchcock’s classic benefits from wicked humor, a well-rounded heroine fueled by righteous anger, and a breakneck pace." —Publishers Weekly
NORMAN WAS HER FIRST...
Marion is in deep. She's stolen money from the Manhattan ad agency where she works in a desperate bid to help her sister escape an abusive marriage, but the bus breaks down before she can make it to Saratoga Springs. It's late at night, and the only place with vacancies is an old set of cabins on the outskirts of town. She pays for a room in cash, and ends up chatting with Norm, the young innkeeper who's handsome, charming and a touch hung-up on his elderly mother. Back in her room, she steps into the shower, scrubbing off the late-summer heat, when the curtain is pulled back...
Norm Billings is there with a knife. He raises his arm to strike, but before he does, Marion knees him in the balls, grabs the knife, and stabs the life out of him. Now, she's covered in blood, and she's a woman on the run—not just a thief, but a killer, too. Where will she go? How will she save both herself and her sister? And what mysteries will she uncover as she does?
In Psycho, Hitchcock shocked audiences when he killed off his protagonist. But what if the leading lady had fought back? Marion offers an alternate history of the most famous dead blonde to ever grace the silver screen. Only this time, the knife is in her hands—and she's no victim.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Leah Rowan puts a dramatic, feminist spin on one of Hollywood’s most iconic films in this dazzling thriller. Tired of being treated like a second-class citizen at the New York ad agency where she works and frustrated that her sister is stuck in an abusive marriage, Marion impulsively steals $100,000 in cash and sets out to rescue her sibling. En route, she lands at a failing motel run by an unsettling man named Norm, who tries to stab her while she’s in the shower. But when Marion grabs the knife and violently defends herself, her story takes an awesome, unexpected turn. Rowan’s bizarro-world reimagining of the game-changing 1960 thriller Psycho completely flips the script on the Hitchcock classic in ways we never saw coming. And through it all, we were cheering for this headstrong heroine who refuses to play along with the prescribed tropes. It’s scary and witty, and it turns cinema’s most famous victim into an avenging angel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rowan (The Last Room on the Left, written as Leah Konen) delivers a fiendishly clever feminist remix of Psycho. Marion Crane is staying at the Billings Motel on the outskirts of New Paltz, N.Y., after her bus broke down and every other hotel room in the area was booked. The dilapidated motel is run by a handsome young man named Norm Billings, who owns it alongside his ailing mother. When Norm invites Marion to dinner, they share a lovely evening—until Marion returns to her room, and Norm tries to kill her in the shower. But Marion isn't who or what she seems, and Norm isn't prepared for what happens next. Neither is Marion, exactly, and when she fights off Norm, she creates a major problem for herself. It turns out to be one among many, as Marion is already being pursued by her boss for stealing money from her Manhattan ad agency, and is attempting to liberate her sister from an abusive marriage. Rowan's bold take on Hitchcock's classic benefits from wicked humor, a well-rounded heroine fueled by righteous anger, and a breakneck pace. Readers will want to check in to the Billings for a long stay.
