Possessed - by Jowita Bydlowska (Paperback)

About the Book

Caught between a younger man that doesn't promise anything, her older former lover, and her senile mother, Josephine travels to a haunted quarantine island, where she meets an enigmatic, beatiful man with a haunting story.

Book Synopsis

"Equal parts Harlequin romance, Gothic horror story and Camusian moral tale." -- GLOBE AND MAIL
Nominated for the 2023 ReLit Award

From the bestselling author of Drunk Mom, comes a story of romantic obsession, mental illness, and self-discovery as one woman travels to a haunted quarantine island.

Josephine is obsessed. Or possessed -- by unrequited love for a younger man who doesn't promise anything, but who gives her a taste of intimacy that puts her on the brink of losing her mind. Oscillating between her elusive lover and her older former partner, stuck in the hell that is working in a cubicle, and obliged to tend to her destructive, senile mother, Josephine is trapped.

After a work assignment promises to deliver distraction, Josephine makes a decision to visit a former quarantine island in the Adriatic Sea, where she meets an enigmatic, beautiful man with a haunting story. Intimate and erotic, Possessed is a dark and funny story exploring sexual obsession, mental illness, and the supernatural.

A RARE MACHINES BOOK

Review Quotes

Bydlowska continues to audaciously explore subject matter that most authors are afraid to approach--our deepest, darkest desires and compulsions--and she does so with unique candor.-- "EVENT Magazine"

Jowita Bydlowska writes with such unsparing elegance about sex, violence, and desire. She's a writer of keen psychological insight, who is not afraid to be funny and cutting about serious things.-- "Zoe Whittall, author of The Spectacular"

Sex doesn't get hotter nor desire more unsettling than in Possessed. This is a courageous, absorbing novel by one of the most interesting writers currently at work in Canada.-- "Barbara Gowdy, author of Little Sister"

Part slow-burn psychological thriller, part claustrophobic nightmare, and all of it brushed with a tragic glaze, Possessed walks the razor's edge that divides desire from horror. Let it pull you in, then pull you deep.-- "Andrew Pyper, bestselling author of The Residence and The Demonologist"

About the Author

Jowita Bydlowska was born in Warsaw, Poland, and moved to Canada as a teenager. She has published two bestselling books: the memoir Drunk Mom and a novel, Guy, as well as dozens of short stories in various magazines and journals. Jowita lives in Toronto.