A sophisticated and conversation-starting novel of modern love, sexual violence, and toxic inheritance from a brilliant new literary voice
When Kate Quaile meets Max Rippon in the first week of university, so begins a life-changing friendship.
Over the next four years, the two become inseparable. For him, she breaks her solitude; for her, he leaves his busy circles behind. But knowing Max means knowing his family: the wealthy Rippons, all generosity, social ease, and quiet repression. Theirs is a very different world from KateтАЩs own upbringing, and yet she finds herself quickly drawn into their gilded lives, and the secrets that lie beneath. Until one evening, at┬аthe Rippons home, just after graduation, her life is shattered apart in a bedroom while a party┬аgoes on downstairs.
┬а
What Red Was┬аis an incisive and mesmerizing novel about power, privilege, and consentтАФone that fearlessly explores the effects of trauma on the mind and body of a young woman, the tyrannies of memory, the sacrifices involved in staying silent, and the courage in speaking out. And when Kate does, it raises this urgent question: Whose story is it now?
Praise for What Red Was
тАЬ[A] masterful, incisive debutтАж reminiscent of Donna Tartt or Edward St. Aubyn.тАЭ USA Today
тАЬDazzling. . . ┬аThis is a book that succeeds in prying open our cultural moment and laying it bare for scrutiny.тАЭтАФAlexandra Kleeman, author of┬аYou Too Can Have a Body Like Mine
тАЬOne of the best books IтАЩve ever read about female rage and transgression . . . at┬аonce incredibly timely and one for the ages.тАЭтАФLisa Gabriele, author of┬аThe Winters
┬а
тАЬSo assured, so confident in its voice, so skilful in its plotting and characterisation that it seems like the work of a seasoned author . . .┬а an exciting new voice.тАЭтАФThe Guardian┬а(UK)
тАЬPowerfulтАж handles its explosive plot with an admirable delicacyтАЭтАФPublishers Weekly
┬а
тАЬThoughtful and observantтАжPrice is a novelist worth watching.тАЭ тАФKirkus
тАЬA confident and provocative study of wealth, sexual violence, and complicated friendships . . . [What Red Was] is a strong debut by an incredibly young author, an assured and challenging novel that suggests an incipient talent worthy of notice.тАЭтАФThe Irish Times