A freaky tale of isolation and the porous membranes between us, Rebecca Gislers slim novel renders a collapsing world with equal parts aversion, fascination, and tendernessfor readers of Ottessa Moshfegh and Sayaka Murata.

At an age when shed rather be making her own way in the world, an unnamed young woman finds herselfmoving to a small town at the seaside to care for her uncle. Hes a disabled war veteran with questionable habits, prone to drinking, gorging, and hoardingnot to mention the occasional excursion down into the plumbing, where he might disappear for days at a time. When the world starts to shut down, Uncle and his niece become closer than ever. She knows his every moveevery bathroom break he takes, every pill he swallowsand finds herself relying more and more on this strange man, her only company in a shrinking world. But then Uncles health takes a turn for the worse: Hes sent to a hospital that cares for cats, dogs, and Uncles, and any way for her to make sense of this eerie new reality, and her place within it, falls apart.

Poet-novelist Rebecca Gislers debut novel, set against our increasingly disjointed world, welcomes readers into a home of shut-ins as cozy as it is claustrophobic. Gislers bright, winding prose, masterfully translated from French by Jordan Stump, offers a rare witness to the complex ways in which we order our lives, for better or worse, inside and out.

Paperback| 148 pages | 14.51″ x 8.33″