This book will be released on June 6, 2023, in the US and the UK, in hardcover!
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"At the Edge of the Woods is a rare novel: beautifully attuned to both the mysteries of the natural world and of human consciousness, at once cool and intense, suspenseful and surprising. Just when you think you know where Laura’s story is headed the forest path twists, uncovering a world resplendent with ghosts, secrets, and dangerously deep wells of feeling. Kathryn Bromwich is a thrilling new talent."
—Laura van den Berg, author of I Hold a Wolf by the Ears and The Third Hotel
"Mysterious, assured, and deeply, quietly passionate, At the Edge of the Woods is a magnetic debut in love with nature and language in equal measure, eschewing traditional plot and narrative devices in favor of the fabulous on every level... Bromwich infects the senses with dread and wicked insight from the first page to the last—this is a stunning experience not to be missed."
—Maryse Meijer, author of The Seventh Mansion
Haunting, gorgeously descriptive, and spellbinding, At the Edge of the Woods is a magnificent and assured debut novel that delivers all the resonance and significance of an instant classic.
Laura lives alone in a cabin deep within the Italian Alps, making her living translating medical documents and tutoring the children of affluent locals. She spends her days climbing the mountains outside her door and exploring the woods, and when she must venture into the small, conservative town for supplies, she’s met with curious stares and wariness. Laura begins seeing a bartender, who alerts her to the villagers’ uncertainties, and suggests she get a dog. Then late one night there is a knock on the door, and on the other side stands someone from her past who has finally found her. In beguiling, lyrical prose, the mystery surrounding why Laura has absconded to this remote corner of the Alps comes into focus, while the villagers grow leery of the woman in the cabin and of her increasingly odd behavior, and a few decide to take matters into their own hands; to free themselves from the malevolent forces of the strega who lives amongst them.
With its dexterity and appreciation for the natural world, its slow-burn tension and thematic considerations of illness, infertility, and femininity, At the Edge of the Woods calls to mind the work of Richard Powers, Claire-Louise Bennett, and Shirley Jackson, while revealing Kathryn Bromwich as a spectacular and singular talent.
"Survival in the natural world, isolation, not having children—I love so much of what Bromwich is able to do with this novel... With each extra moment she dedicates to the wild parts of herself, readers feel the balance begin to shift on how she is perceived. Her strength and confidence in one area makes the town a bit more wary of her. That wariness soon turns to a type of fear that makes them tense—then angry... Bromwich brilliantly depicts Laura’s experience as only that which a woman can have... This is a book to be remembered."
—Jaylyll Korrell, Independent Book Review, starred review
(Read the review of At the Edge of the Woods)
"A slow burn... portrait of a woman’s communion with an untamed wilderness."
—Publishers Weekly, review of At the Edge of the Woods
"A raw, intimate, richly textured and lyrical account of a self-imposed isolation in the Italian Alps. Part-almost fairy tale, part-humane examination of the body, memory, loneliness, relationships and nature—this gorgeous book offers a hypnotically meditative insight into one woman’s compelling psyche."
—Lara Williams, author of The Odyssey and Supper Club
"A delicious, dark unravelling. Kathryn Bromwich's prose brings us an unnerving and tenacious voice, a remarkable protagonist. In this brilliant novel, the wild is never far away but we have more to fear from so-called civilisation. It made me want to take off into the forest! An unnerving and exhilarating book that gave me goosebumps."
—Helen Mort, author of A Line Above the Sky
"Heady and headlong, Bromwich’s deliciously witchy debut unspools with the force and confidence of a spell, conjuring an indelible portrayal of one woman’s quest for selfhood through solitude."
—Hermione Hoby, author of Virtue and Neon in Daylight
"I savored this wonderfully intense and enigmatic novel about a woman's retreat into the wilderness. At the Edge of the Woods touches on issues of alienation, illness, womanhood, nature and community, in sensuous prose that delights and disturbs. An offbeat, beguiling debut."
—Luiza Sauma, author of Flesh and Bone and Water
"A rich and bewitching novel. Kathryn Bromwich has spun up a delicate world that interrogates the dark side of love, the wild power of nature, and the strength it takes to break free."
—Sarah Rose Etter, author of The Book of X
"A profound and disquieting portrait of isolation and existence at the borderlands: between cultures, past and present, civilization and wilderness. Through a delicate twining of deliberate, precise storytelling and rich, lyrical detail, Kathryn Bromwich has crafted a captivating and beguiling fable in reverse — a story that feels like it's existed forever, just waiting for her to write it down."
—Simon Jacobs, author of Palaces and String Follow
"Mysterious, assured, and deeply, quietly passionate, At the Edge of the Woods is a magnetic debut in love with nature and language in equal measure, eschewing traditional plot and narrative devices in favor of the fabulous on every level... Bromwich infects the senses with dread and wicked insight from the first page to the last—this is a stunning experience not to be missed."
—Maryse Meijer, author of The Seventh Mansion
"At the Edge of the Woods is a rare novel: beautifully attuned to both the mysteries of the natural world and of human consciousness, at once cool and intense, suspenseful and surprising. Just when you think you know where Laura’s story is headed the forest path twists, uncovering a world resplendent with ghosts, secrets, and dangerously deep wells of feeling. Kathryn Bromwich is a thrilling new talent."
—Laura van den Berg, author of I Hold a Wolf by the Ears and The Third Hotel
"Bromwich has crafted a lovely, quiet, and haunting tale of a woman who escapes a luxurious but miserable life to live alone in a tiny cottage outside a small village. Laura becomes a creature of the forest, but depends on the village for small jobs to buy necessities. She needs the villagers’ trust to get and retain work and be safe in her isolation. Can Laura throw off her once-lofty status to become a member of a tiny, rough-edged community?"
—Kay Wosewick, Boswell Books (Milwaukee, WI)
"Intense and hazy, At the Edge of the Woods is a feverishly captivating combination of nature writing and character study. As Laura becomes increasingly connected to the woods around her, the reader can't help but to be drawn into her orbit, to see things the way that she does."
—Mallory Melton, BookPeople (Austin, TX)
"Elaborate details of the woods, and the quiet, overwhelming powers that both it and being a woman in a patriarchal social structures holds. Bromwich's At the Edge of the Woods fits well in a stack with Ottessa Moshfegh's Death in Her Hands, but it is also a beautiful, fresh addition to the feminist literary canon."
—Tay Jones, White Whale Bookstore (Pittsburgh, PA)
"An engrossing tale that exposes how easily solitude can become isolation and the dangers therein, how the things we need can often be our ruin. A kissing cousin of Margaret Atwood's Surfacing, Bromwich's debut is confident, atmospheric, and mesmerizing."
—Wesley Minter, Third Place Books (Seattle, WA)
"Earthy, sensuous, and feminist. Through extraordinary nature writing, Bromwich addresses fertility, culture, class, illness, and community. Tense and witchy, this is a story of one woman who lives on her own terms. Glorious."
—Beth Shapiro, Skylark Bookshop (Columbia, MO)
"A woman trying to make a fresh start winds up in the Italian Alps, where she tutors children and climbs mountains—until someone from her past shows up at her door."
—David Varno, Publishers Weekly, "Spring 2023 Announcements: Literary Fiction"
