At the Edge of the Woods is an American Booksellers Association "Summer/Fall 2023 Indies Introduce Featured Title"! We are grateful to all of the amazing indie booksellers involved: click below to read the nominating booksellers'' thoughts on At the Edge of the Woods: >>> View the Indies Introduce page for At the Edge of the Woods >>> View the full list of Summer/Fall 2023 Indies Introduce Featured Titles "At The Edge of the Woods is an exceptional debut; uncanny, unsettling, original and subtle. Gradually, it beckons the reader deeper into both its forests and its mysteries; I was reminded at times of the work of Dolores Redondo''s Baztan trilogy, and at others of Robert Seethaler''s slender chronicles of remote European mountain communities." --Robert Macfarlane, author of Mountains of the Mind, The Wild Places, The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot, Landmarks, and Underland: A Deep Time Journey "Bromwich paints Laura and her woods as vibrantly as an old-fashioned fairy tale and this is just as foreboding. Fans of highly interiorized, richly narrated feminist fiction will tear through it." --Annie Bostrom, Booklist "In this haunting debut, a woman running from her past tries to find solitude and independence in the woods. Bromwich''s pacing works brilliantly; languid and slow as we meet Laura a few months into her time in the cabin, comfortable and familiar, before becoming increasingly disjointed and rapid to match her deteriorating mental state. The result is a slow-burning tension that never quite resolves into something like closure but is nonetheless riveting and original. A gripping, richly layered story of a woman''s unraveling as she grapples with threats both past and present.
" --Kirkus (Read the review of At the Edge of the Woods) "Bromwich brilliantly depicts Laura''s experience as only that which a woman can have. This is a book to be remembered." --Jaylynn Korrell, Independent Book Review, starred (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 (Read the review of At the Edge of the Woods) "Throughout Kathryn Bromwich''s debut novel, At the Edge of the Woods, strangeness proliferates. Bromwich quickly entrances readers within her prose that wanders through a woman''s solitude. She hikes everyday, running from something. It is in those trees that Bromwich situates herself as a novelist keen on exploring perceptions, sustenance, and escape into the natural world.
With each new iteration of the self, the narrator throws off another layer of pretense. A novel with surprisingly linear growth, Bromwich disrupts expectations with an unhinged ending--a final stab at the festering wound of womanhood, and the woman the narrator once was." --Corinna Akari Singer, Columbia Journal of Literary Criticism (Read the review of At the Edge of the Woods) "This week, host Jason Jefferies is joined by Kathryn Bromwich, who discusses her new novel At the Edge of the Woods. Topics of conversation include Richard Powers'' The Overstory, wilderness narratives that captivate our imaginations, a female protagonist living off the grid, how one''s mind works first thing in the morning, a mountain as a sentient being, practicing one''s smile in the mirror, guilt over not attending church, and much more." Listen to an interview with the author, presented by Explore Booksellers: Bookin'' Podcast: "234--Bookin'' w/ Kathryn Bromwich" "Never have I ever come across a book that''s truly as satisfying to read as this little book about a woman living in obscurity set on the outskirts of the Italian Alps. It''s intriguing, mysterious, and contemplative. Not to mention that Bromwich''s prose is unbelievably visceral. You will be hard pressed to find a book that satisfies like this.
" --Thu Doan, East Bay Booksellers, Oakland, CA "Laura secrets away in a spare remote cabin in an attempt to create a life of her own choosing and free herself of societal expectations. She finds comfort in nature, spending hours each day hiking farther and farther through field and forest. An exploration of how a woman disappears--figuratively and literally--after escaping an abusive, untenable situation." --Alana Haley, Schuler''s Books, Grand Rapids, MI "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.
An unnerving and exhilarating book that gave me goosebumps. It made me want to take off into the forest!" --Helen Mort, author of A Line Above the Sky "Elegant, mysterious, unsettling--Bromwich''s storytelling is as assured as it is unpredictable. A stunning achievement." --Rhik Samadder, author of I Never Said I Loved You "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 and Ripe "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 mis.