"Propulsive . . .
. Good books sometimes cut to the bone, and this one feels like a scythe." —The New York Times Book Review
"This wise, brilliant novel is so special, so overflowing with honesty and love—about motherhood, sisterhood, what it’s like to be a woman—that every paragraph feels like an epiphany. Hanna Halperin knows the fierce love that can exist especially among broken things. Something Wild moved me deeply."
—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed
A searing novel about the love and contradictions of sisterhood, the intoxicating desires of adolescence, and the traumas that trap mothers and daughters in cycles of violence
One weekend, sisters Tanya and Nessa Bloom pause their respective adult lives and travel to the Boston suburbs to help their mother pack up and move out of their childhood home. For the first time since they were teenagers sharing a bunk bed over a decade ago, they find themselves in the place where long-kept secrets were born, where jealousy, comfort, anger, forgiveness, and repulsion coexist with the fiercest love and loyalty. What they don't expect is for their visit to expose a new, horrifying truth: their mother, Lorraine, is in a violent relationship.
As Tanya urges Lorraine to get a restraining order, Nessa struggles to reconcile her fondness for their stepfather with his capacity for brutality. Their differing responses to the abuse bring up the sisters' shared secret—a traumatic, unspoken experience from their adolescence has shaped their lives, their sense of selves, and their relationship with each other and the men in their life. In the midst of this family crisis, they have no choice but to reckon with the past and face each other in the present, in the hope that there's a way out of the violence so deeply ingrained in the Bloom family.
Told in alternating perspectives that deftly interweave past and present, Something Wild is a magnetic, unflinching portrait of the bond between sisters, as well as a psychologically acute exploration of the legacy of divorce, the ways trauma reverberates over generations, and how it might be possible to overcome the past.
Genre: Literary Fiction
. Good books sometimes cut to the bone, and this one feels like a scythe." —The New York Times Book Review
"This wise, brilliant novel is so special, so overflowing with honesty and love—about motherhood, sisterhood, what it’s like to be a woman—that every paragraph feels like an epiphany. Hanna Halperin knows the fierce love that can exist especially among broken things. Something Wild moved me deeply."
—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed
A searing novel about the love and contradictions of sisterhood, the intoxicating desires of adolescence, and the traumas that trap mothers and daughters in cycles of violence
One weekend, sisters Tanya and Nessa Bloom pause their respective adult lives and travel to the Boston suburbs to help their mother pack up and move out of their childhood home. For the first time since they were teenagers sharing a bunk bed over a decade ago, they find themselves in the place where long-kept secrets were born, where jealousy, comfort, anger, forgiveness, and repulsion coexist with the fiercest love and loyalty. What they don't expect is for their visit to expose a new, horrifying truth: their mother, Lorraine, is in a violent relationship.
As Tanya urges Lorraine to get a restraining order, Nessa struggles to reconcile her fondness for their stepfather with his capacity for brutality. Their differing responses to the abuse bring up the sisters' shared secret—a traumatic, unspoken experience from their adolescence has shaped their lives, their sense of selves, and their relationship with each other and the men in their life. In the midst of this family crisis, they have no choice but to reckon with the past and face each other in the present, in the hope that there's a way out of the violence so deeply ingrained in the Bloom family.
Told in alternating perspectives that deftly interweave past and present, Something Wild is a magnetic, unflinching portrait of the bond between sisters, as well as a psychologically acute exploration of the legacy of divorce, the ways trauma reverberates over generations, and how it might be possible to overcome the past.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Something Wild is a brave, harrowing novel, beautifully written and unflinching in its examination of spousal abuse, sexual exploitation, divorce, and legacies of trauma. It is also, miraculously, a tender-hearted examination of sibling love and betrayal, of the wounds we suffer and inflict on those we need the most, and the mercy required to endure them. Hanna Halperin possesses the courage of all great novelists: she is able to stare down the truth without judgment. I was spellbound while reading her remarkable debut, and haunted long afterwards." - Steve Almond
"Something Wild is the story of the fierce love and secrets that exist between sisters Tanya and Nessa and their mother, Lorraine—but I was just as impressed by the radical interiority that Hanna Halperin grants her characters. The women of this novel are painted with startling honesty and insight: they think the unthinkable, do the unfixable, and their raw vulnerability is thrilling, for it acknowledges our own. In this emotionally astute debut, Hanna Halperin shows herself to be a writer who is as compassionate as she is unafraid of darkness and taboo. Something Wild is tender, fearless, and savagely alive." - Chloe Benjamin
"In Something Wild, Hanna Halperin takes a startling look at intimacy in its kaleidoscopic range—its capacity to make and undo us, to deliver us to danger and lead us out again. The grace of Halperin’s careful eye makes it impossible to diminish or look away from the women at the center of this book, even when their lives fail to give them the mercy we would want for them. This is a brave and exquisite debut." - Danielle Evans
"In this compelling debut that examines overt violence and buried pain in the lives of a mother and her two adult daughters, Hanna Halperin explores the injuries that can and cannot be healed, the wrongs that can and cannot be forgiven, and the times when love is and isn’t enough. Something Wild is an unflinching look at what happens when closed doors and hearts are at last flung open." - Judith Claire Mitchell
"Something Wild is unflinching and intimate, brutal and tender. This is a novel written with guts and heart, a masterful portrayal of trauma, girlhood, familial violence and the reverberations of harm. Halperin’s characters are full of humanity even as they fail one another, even as they face the unspeakable. What a generous, bold debut. I loved it. I can’t get it out of my head." - Kate Elizabeth Russell
"Something Wild is a gripping portrait of a family in all its shattered complexity. Hanna Halperin is a compassionate and wise writer, and in this searing debut she peels back the shiny exterior of the Bloom family and reveals what is true for us all: that secrets are psychic poison, and they transform us when they come tumbling out." - Dani Shapiro
"Something Wild is a profound and intimate novel that follows two sisters’ evolving identities in the wake of personal tragedy. Though its main characters are survivors, this book is not just about the cost of violence; it is a nuanced look at the power dynamics nestled deep in our homes, our conversations, and the makeup of our society. Halperin writes the Bloom family with rich specificity, creating characters alive with vulnerability, beauty, and rage, all the while telling a greater story of how one generation of women can inherit trauma from the last. An unforgettable debut that I’ll be grappling with for years to come." - Lucy Tan
"Something Wild is the story of the fierce love and secrets that exist between sisters Tanya and Nessa and their mother, Lorraine—but I was just as impressed by the radical interiority that Hanna Halperin grants her characters. The women of this novel are painted with startling honesty and insight: they think the unthinkable, do the unfixable, and their raw vulnerability is thrilling, for it acknowledges our own. In this emotionally astute debut, Hanna Halperin shows herself to be a writer who is as compassionate as she is unafraid of darkness and taboo. Something Wild is tender, fearless, and savagely alive." - Chloe Benjamin
"In Something Wild, Hanna Halperin takes a startling look at intimacy in its kaleidoscopic range—its capacity to make and undo us, to deliver us to danger and lead us out again. The grace of Halperin’s careful eye makes it impossible to diminish or look away from the women at the center of this book, even when their lives fail to give them the mercy we would want for them. This is a brave and exquisite debut." - Danielle Evans
"In this compelling debut that examines overt violence and buried pain in the lives of a mother and her two adult daughters, Hanna Halperin explores the injuries that can and cannot be healed, the wrongs that can and cannot be forgiven, and the times when love is and isn’t enough. Something Wild is an unflinching look at what happens when closed doors and hearts are at last flung open." - Judith Claire Mitchell
"Something Wild is unflinching and intimate, brutal and tender. This is a novel written with guts and heart, a masterful portrayal of trauma, girlhood, familial violence and the reverberations of harm. Halperin’s characters are full of humanity even as they fail one another, even as they face the unspeakable. What a generous, bold debut. I loved it. I can’t get it out of my head." - Kate Elizabeth Russell
"Something Wild is a gripping portrait of a family in all its shattered complexity. Hanna Halperin is a compassionate and wise writer, and in this searing debut she peels back the shiny exterior of the Bloom family and reveals what is true for us all: that secrets are psychic poison, and they transform us when they come tumbling out." - Dani Shapiro
"Something Wild is a profound and intimate novel that follows two sisters’ evolving identities in the wake of personal tragedy. Though its main characters are survivors, this book is not just about the cost of violence; it is a nuanced look at the power dynamics nestled deep in our homes, our conversations, and the makeup of our society. Halperin writes the Bloom family with rich specificity, creating characters alive with vulnerability, beauty, and rage, all the while telling a greater story of how one generation of women can inherit trauma from the last. An unforgettable debut that I’ll be grappling with for years to come." - Lucy Tan
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