Description
Book Synopsis'A stunning, literary twist on the vampire novel by a dazzling debut writer: 'Absolutely brilliant - tragic, funny, eccentric . . . Claire Kohda takes the vampire trope and makes it her own' RUTH OZEKITrade ReviewAbsolutely brilliant - tragic, funny, eccentric and so perfectly suited to this particularly weird time. Claire Kohda takes the vampire trope and makes it her own in a way that feels fresh and original. Serious issues of race, disability, misogyny, body image, sexual abuse are handled with subtlety, insight, and a lightness of touch. The spell this novel casts is so complete I feel utterly, and happily, bitten
-- Ruth Ozeki
Witty and thought-provoking * Stylist *
Unsettling, sensual, subversive,
Woman, Eating turns the vampire trope on its head with its startlingly original female protagonist, caught between two worlds. It is
a profound meditation on alienation and appetite, and what it means to be a young woman who experiences life at an acute level of intensity and awareness. Claire Kohda's prose is biting, yet lush and gorgeous. I was uncomfortably smitten -- Lisa Harding, author of Bright Burning Things
Blistering . . . Tells us a lot about the ways we're all searching for belonging * Glamour UK *
A modern day vampire thriller that also covers race, social isolation, unrequited love and parental loyalty . . . Lydia battles not only her vampire hunger but also to find her place in the world * BBC *
We've seen sexy vampires, scary vampires and psychic vampires,
but never one quite like the one in this ambitious debut. Lydia is a twenty-three-year-old, mixed-race artist whose appetite can only be sated with a tall serving of blood. With wit and a poet's eye, Kohda examines cravings, desire and emptiness * New York Times *
The most
unusual, original and strikingly contemporary vampire novel to come along in years * Guardian *
A vampire book that will scrub any trace of Twilight from your mind - Claire Kohda's debut follows a young vampire dealing with all kinds of hunger: for acceptance, for artistic success, and for sushi * Glamour US *
A surefooted, art-filled and wholly 21st-century take on bloodsucking * Observer *
Meaningful and illuminating.... The vampire novel has been done many ways, but
Woman, Eating, Claire Kohda's
intelligent and irreverent take, makes for an enjoyable read * Sunday Times *
What Stoker did for the vampire at the end of the nineteenth century, Claire Kohda does for it in our own era * Times Literary Supplement *
A playful debut that pumps fresh blood into the horror genre . . . [It] playfully revitalises a tired tradition, riffing on its clichés while delivering
a gripping contemporary fable about embracing difference and satisfying hunger * The Times *
The way food wends its way throughout this piece is such
a fascinating way to explore hunger, various appetites, and even identity. I regret to inform you that this one's not out until the spring, but I believe it's well worth the preorder * Book Riot *
Woman, Eating puts
a deliciously fresh spin on a vampire narrative,
while mining serious themes of race, misogyny and body image with pitch-perfect subtlety -- Waterstones
Kohda makes clever use of her premise to explore weighty topics-including cultural alienation, disordered eating, emotional abuse, sexual assault, the stressors of navigating adulthood, and caring for an aging parent-with sensitivity. Lydia's achingly vulnerable first-person narration gains momentum as she achieves self-acceptance-and, ultimately, self-empowerment.
Subversive and gratifying * Kirkus Reviews *
A delicate, consistently surprising riff on the vampire narrative, and a stealthy, subversive story of one young woman's declaration of self * Library Journal (starred) *
A
delicious debut * Publishers Weekly *
Woman, Eating is a long-overdue recalibration of the genre:
a brilliant, subversive inquiry into the very politics of desire and denial, and a twisted testament to the depths of female appetite * Skinny *
One of the most original vampire novels in ages, Claire Kohda's
Woman, Eating follows Lydia, a British, Japanese and Malaysian vampire struggling to survive . . . Kohda has given Lydia a host of great vampire qualities, such as excellent night vision and an ability to experience the entire life of a creature by drinking its blood. But
it's Kohda's exploration of Lydia's inner world, the pain and longing she feels as an outsider, that makes Woman, Eating such a delicious novel * New York Times Book Review *
The chief trait that Lydia, the protagonist of this artful vampire novel, shares with monsters of old is hunger . . . As Lydia encounters new people, including a pleasant artist turned property manager, and a new boss, a man with more influence than decency, she comes to understand what it is to become something 'that is neither demon nor human' * New Yorker *
Kohda has created
a provocative, sympathetic and satisfying dive into the mind of an unusual young woman at a crossroads * Booklist *
In this enjoyable debut novel, Kohda
presents Lydia's thirst for blood as a tidy metaphor for more common cravings. The protagonist's discomfort with her condition comes across as quite realistic in what is essentially a coming-of-age novel.
The author is particularly deft at illustrating how unacknowledged desire will out, undermining our best intentions * Arts Fuse *
Lydia sees herself not as a coherent being but as a body where human and demon uneasily cohabit.
Bloodthirst aside, this is a pretty effective encapsulation of what it means to be a person with free will. Unless we behave so atrociously as to destroy any chance of redemption, each of us is the site of a war between good and evil that will rage on for as long as we live - and that might remain unresolved by any legacy we leave.
I mean, how bloody relatable is that? * TIME *
Woman, Eating deals a lot with food, hunger, and Lydia's relationship to her body. But this novel also deals with spiritual nourishment, art, womanhood, shame, and identity . . .
Kohda's prose will take you on a deep emotional journey. Trust me, this is not your average vampire story - it is a novel that displays the incredible breadth of what speculative fiction can show us about the human condition * Tor.com *
