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Open Me (Grove Press)
Roxana Olsen has always dreamed of going to Paris, and after high school graduation finally plans to travel there on a study abroad program—a welcome reprieve from the bruising fallout of her parents’ divorce. But a logistical mix-up brings Roxana to Copenhagen instead, where she’s picked up at the airport by Søren, a twenty-eight-year-old guide who is meant to be her steward. Instantly drawn to one another, Roxana and Søren’s relationship turns romantic, and when he asks Roxana to accompany him to a small town in the north of Denmark for the rest of the summer, she doesn’t hesitate to accept. There, Roxana’s world narrows and opens as she experiences fantasy, ritual, and the pleasures of her body, a thrilling realm of erotic and domestic bliss. She is so enamored by her cohabitation and intense connection with Søren that at first, she almost doesn’t notice that he does not give her a key to the apartment, leaving her locked in each day while he works in the library on his African-American
literature thesis.
As their relationship deepens, Søren’s temperament darkens, revealing his depression, anxiety and prejudices. Roxana finds herself increasingly drawn to a local outsider, in many ways Søren’s polar opposite, whom she learns is a Bosnian Muslim refugee from the Balkan War. When she decides to sneak out to find him her experiences open in a way she could never have imagined.
An erotic coming-of-age like no other, Open Me is a daringly original and darkly compelling portrait of a young woman discovering her power, her sex, and her voice; and an incisive examination of xenophobia, migration, and what it means to belong.
Praise for Open Me
One of The Millions’ Most Anticipated Books of the Year and Most Anticipated for August
One of Bustle’s Best Books of August
One of Refinery 29's "Sexiest Books You'll Ever Have the Pleasure of Reading" and a Best New Book for August
A Village Voice Great Debut Novel of Summer
A Library Journal "Power Debut Novel" (August Fiction Preview)
A Palm Beach Post Sizzling Summer Read
“Through the care of her tremendous observations and the beauty of her prose, Lisa Locascio writes a kind of love letter to the female body and all its power and visceral complexity. This is a story of many important layers, but one of the many reasons it remains distinct in my mind is because of its honesty about our complicated, yearning physical selves. A remarkable, fearless debut.”—Aimee Bender, author of The Color Master
“Captivating and darkly clever, Locascio’s debut melds self-discovery and self-abnegation with raw, muscular grace. By turns beguiling, guileless, and penetratingly felt, this book seethes with eroticism, both physical and emotional—you won’t dare to pry yourself away from it.”—Alexandra Kleeman, author of You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine
“An evocative and compelling remapping of Bluebeard’s Castle for our times. In Open Me, Locascio offers a daring, unapologetic, and vital exploration of female desire.”—Emily Fridlund, author of History of Wolves
“A lush, evocative novel you won’t be able to put down.Open Me is a masterful debut.”—T.C. Boyle, author of The Harder They Come
Lisa Locascio’s work has been published in The Believer, Salon, n+1, Bookforum, Tin House, American Short Fiction, The Los Angeles Review of Books and elsewhere. She is co-publisher of Joyland and editor of 7x7LA. Lisa is the Executive Director of the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference. Open Me is her first novel.
Karolina Waclawiak is a screenwriter and author of two critically acclaimed novels, How to Get into the Twin Palms and The Invaders. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, VQR, and other notable publications. Formerly an editor of the Believer, she is now Deputy Culture Editor at BuzzFeed News.
Lisa Locascio's photo by Frances F. Denny
Karolina Waclawiak's photo by Eric Burg
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