Afterbirth - by Emma Cleary (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

An unsettling, hypnotic descent into the visceral heart of "mommy horror," Afterbirth is a story of fractured sisterhood, aching hunger, and irrevocable transformation--reverberating with the echoes of classic horror cinema.

In the wake of a fraught and ill-omened romance, Brooke arrives in Vancouver to care for her sister Izzy, who is preparing to undergo reproductive surgery. But Izzy's rapidly decaying apartment building, its hallways stalked by an ominous figure known only as Medusa, offers little of the refuge the sisters need.

Seeking solace in the horror movies her ex-girlfriend loved, Brooke soon finds traces of horror bleeding from the screen into their lives. Old wounds reopen and new tensions surface. When Brooke begins to exhibit strange symptoms of her own, the line between self and sister blurs, and their concern for each other twists into a tangled obsession.

Eerie, threaded with yearning, and startlingly original, Emma Cleary's haunting literary debut explores loneliness, motherhood, and the body's threatened autonomy. The novel blooms with the dark desires we suppress or surrender to--until only one question remains: who, or what, will survive when all unravels?

Review Quotes

"Afterbirth is feral and mesmerizing. It's a novel that glitters with menace. Emma Cleary is a startling writer, and this is a completely unforgettable and uncanny debut." - Lucy Rose, international bestselling author of The Lamb
"Afterbirth is a lyrical, surreal and deeply profound exploration of the relationship between women and their reproductive bodies. At once horrific and beautiful, the bodies of the women in Cleary's world transgress their physical boundaries and begin to impregnate one another with monsters. The empathy and connection between women and sisters are revealed to be at once intimate and violent. Cleary's debut is a metaphysical triumph that shines a light on the supernatural forces that dwell in the deepest recesses of women's bodies. Utterly unique, experimental and, simultaneously, a page turner with the sly creeping pace of a horror film." - Heather O'Neill, author of The Lonely Hearts Hotel and The Capital of Dreams
"Hypnotic and deeply unsettling, this remarkable debut moves with the deliberate, controlled tension of classic cinema. Cleary maps the changing female body - its ruptures, its resilience, its monstrous potential - with a precision that is both tender and terrifying." - Celia Silvani, author of Baby Teeth
"I was compelled this contemplative, immersive, intelligent horror that explores what it is to inhabit women's bodies. Emma Cleary's writing is visceral and affecting. Mesmerizing, melancholy, and simmering with menace. I loved it." - Emma Van Straaten, author of Creep
"Haunting, propulsive and beautifully crafted. Emma Cleary carves out a world that is in equal measures horrifying and human, and takes us deep into the belly of longing to unearth the monsters inside ourselves." - Ahana Virdi, author of Sour Fruit