'Built on simmering tensions at the precipice of boiling over . . . vivid storytelling'VOGUE
'An intimate, pitch-perfect fable of the time' YRSA DALEY-WARD
'Sensual, detail-rich, utterly immersive . . . So propulsive and atmospheric' JENNY MUSTARD
***
BEHIND THIS GLASS, EVERYTHING IS MORE BEAUTIFUL
On the Santa Cruz waterfront, every house is as perfect as the people inside. Not so for Mitty and Bethel, the oddball pair in the dilapidated bungalow – they are the last vestiges of a town now housing the tech elite. But Mitty is about to cross the threshold. Someone has arrived next door who finally wants to know this forgotten girl.
Lena is different and she knows it. Reliant on her entrepreneur boyfriend Sebastian, her life is oddly limited for someone bathed in wealth. But when she sees Mitty, Lena begins to recognize a part of herself she has yet to face, something anxious, something broken – something real.
And in this salt-blasted town, friendship will bleed into obsession, minds and bodies will betray, and the past will come back with a howl and a bite.
Thrilling, seductive and prescient, WHOEVER YOU ARE HONEY is a blazing debut that dissects perfection, examines how women are made and explores the intersection of passion, technology, and power.
Genre: Literary Fiction
'An intimate, pitch-perfect fable of the time' YRSA DALEY-WARD
'Sensual, detail-rich, utterly immersive . . . So propulsive and atmospheric' JENNY MUSTARD
***
BEHIND THIS GLASS, EVERYTHING IS MORE BEAUTIFUL
On the Santa Cruz waterfront, every house is as perfect as the people inside. Not so for Mitty and Bethel, the oddball pair in the dilapidated bungalow – they are the last vestiges of a town now housing the tech elite. But Mitty is about to cross the threshold. Someone has arrived next door who finally wants to know this forgotten girl.
Lena is different and she knows it. Reliant on her entrepreneur boyfriend Sebastian, her life is oddly limited for someone bathed in wealth. But when she sees Mitty, Lena begins to recognize a part of herself she has yet to face, something anxious, something broken – something real.
And in this salt-blasted town, friendship will bleed into obsession, minds and bodies will betray, and the past will come back with a howl and a bite.
Thrilling, seductive and prescient, WHOEVER YOU ARE HONEY is a blazing debut that dissects perfection, examines how women are made and explores the intersection of passion, technology, and power.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Lush with desire, pleasure, and the deep longing for connection that underlies everything we do, Whoever You Are, Honey makes the familiar new; the everyday is made sensuous, rich, and jewel-bright." - Claudia Cravens
"Sharp, captivating, and apt--an intimate, pitch-perfect fable of the time, I immediately went back to the start." - Yrsa Daley-Ward
"With a poet's precision and a tremendous amount of heart, Gatwood's debut is at once a cutting cultural critique and a twisted, tender love story. I didn't want it to end, and I know it'll stay with me for a long time. The Stepford Wives for a new generation is finally here in this gripping, immersive, and uncanny novel." - Jenny Fran Davis
"Whoever You Are, Honey is a gripping, heartfelt novel--a moving exploration of unconventional friendships and the desire to be accepted and loved, not in spite of but because of our flaws. Every page sparkles with insight about human intimacy, the stories we project onto one another, and the courage to push past first impressions to a deeper, more complicated understanding." - Kate Folk
"A gorgeous, haunting, tender story of women finding different kinds of love and solace in each other, Whoever You Are, Honey looks directly into the deep, dark depths of what makes us alive--and what sustains that life. I loved every minute of it." - Gabrielle Korn
"Whoever You Are, Honey reads like a thriller, but it's also a tender and searching exploration of what it means to inhabit a female body. The characters--wounded, wounding, and longing for a better world--will catch you up and carry you along with them." - Kelly Link
"Here's a novel about the vastness of feeling and friendship--their unruliness a brilliant counterpoint to the glazed screens and aspirations of the modern world." - Anna Metcalfe
"As lush and hypnotic as a dreampop album, this is an intoxicating debut about two women, each carrying a dark secret, who desire more than they've been allowed to want." - Leigh Stein
"Olivia Gatwood's writing is lyrical, eerily propulsive, and addictive. This is the type of novel I'm always hoping to find--I couldn't put it down." - Amy Taylor
"Sharp, captivating, and apt--an intimate, pitch-perfect fable of the time, I immediately went back to the start." - Yrsa Daley-Ward
"With a poet's precision and a tremendous amount of heart, Gatwood's debut is at once a cutting cultural critique and a twisted, tender love story. I didn't want it to end, and I know it'll stay with me for a long time. The Stepford Wives for a new generation is finally here in this gripping, immersive, and uncanny novel." - Jenny Fran Davis
"Whoever You Are, Honey is a gripping, heartfelt novel--a moving exploration of unconventional friendships and the desire to be accepted and loved, not in spite of but because of our flaws. Every page sparkles with insight about human intimacy, the stories we project onto one another, and the courage to push past first impressions to a deeper, more complicated understanding." - Kate Folk
"A gorgeous, haunting, tender story of women finding different kinds of love and solace in each other, Whoever You Are, Honey looks directly into the deep, dark depths of what makes us alive--and what sustains that life. I loved every minute of it." - Gabrielle Korn
"Whoever You Are, Honey reads like a thriller, but it's also a tender and searching exploration of what it means to inhabit a female body. The characters--wounded, wounding, and longing for a better world--will catch you up and carry you along with them." - Kelly Link
"Here's a novel about the vastness of feeling and friendship--their unruliness a brilliant counterpoint to the glazed screens and aspirations of the modern world." - Anna Metcalfe
"As lush and hypnotic as a dreampop album, this is an intoxicating debut about two women, each carrying a dark secret, who desire more than they've been allowed to want." - Leigh Stein
"Olivia Gatwood's writing is lyrical, eerily propulsive, and addictive. This is the type of novel I'm always hoping to find--I couldn't put it down." - Amy Taylor
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