Gym - by Verena Kessler (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A deliciously dark and unsettling novel about one woman's dark obsessions.

A woman walks into a gym. She's looking for a job and, in her desperation for a fresh start, she'll say anything. In a moment of panic she pretends to have a new baby at home and now she must keep up the lie at all costs. As she becomes increasingly obsessed with pushing her body to its limits, her colleagues start to ask questions about her mysterious corporate past and this imaginary baby. Her story is not adding up. Suspicions snowball, culminating in a violent return to a version of herself she thought she'd left behind. Her probation officer won't be pleased.

About the Author

VERENA KESSLER was born in Hamburg in 1988, and studied at the German Institute for Literature in Leipzig. Her debut novel, Die Gespenster von Demmin (The Ghosts of Demmin), was nominated for numerous prizes including the Aspekte Literature Prize, for the best debut novel in German. Her second novel, Eva (2023), was awarded the Der zweiter Roman Prize. Her work has been translated into French, Polish, Czech, Greek and Bulgarian.