Roxy - by Esther Gerritsen (Paperback)

About the Book

After her husband's death, the grieving Roxy embarks on an all-female road-trip with their daughter, his personal assistant, and the babysitter.

Book Synopsis

"A novel you devour in one sitting: elegiac, beautiful, and very strong." --Herman Koch, author of The Dinner
Roxy's life is turned upside down when her husband is killed in a car crash, his naked body found entangled with his lover's. Twenty-seven-year-old Roxy is left behind with their daughter, her husband's personal assistant, and their babysitter to come to terms with this shameful end to her marriage. Looking to break free from her grief, Roxy takes the three of them on an impromptu road trip filled with darkly humorous observations about loss, parental responsibility, and the expiration date of love. Through masterful dialogues and in her trademark lucid style, Gerritsen introduces the reader to a woman whose response to grief both shocks and endears.

Review Quotes

"At the opening of Esther Gerritsen's Roxy, twenty-seven-year-old Roxy, a famous novelist and former tabloid fodder, learns that her husband has died. What follows is her unraveling. Introspective as it traces Roxy's tragic fall, the novel is arresting (...) Rich and a little bitter, Roxy is powered by the monumental weight of Esther Gerritsen's intense and insatiable prose, which is beautifully translated by Michele Hutchison. Consume it with coffee, dark chocolate, or red wine."--Jessie Horness, Foreword Reviews

"A diverting absurdist parable...Questionable parenting and bizarre behavior are hallmarks of Gerritsen's previous novel, too, but Roxy's story is starker and more manic, as her road trip of self-discovery spirals down into ever darker, more violent behavior before emerging into a degree of realization."--Kirkus Reviews

"Roxy is a splendid little book about a fascinating yet troubling protagonist, with Gerritsen's stripped-back language providing a very readable and direct narrative." --European Literature Network

"A raw, unsettling book." --Daily Mail

"A novel you devour in one sitting: elegiac, beautiful, and very strong."--Herman Koch, author of The Dinner

"Some sentences in Roxy are as if carved in stone; like Samuel Beckett, Gerritsen knows how to capture moments of terrifying precision and darkness." --De Morgen

"In her fifth book Esther Gerritsen has continued to grow to the level of an author who dares to incorporate everything--from comical cross-talk to heart-rending silence. Once again, she displays her gift for striking sentences and dialogue that teeters on the thin line between normality and alienation, between entertaining kookiness and harrowing absurdism."--De Volkskrant

"Even more than we have grown used to, in Roxy Gerritsen strips her scenes and language to the bone, leaving us with the core, which is ridiculously good." --Opzij Literature Prize

"The stories of Esther Gerritsen, one of the best Dutch writers for years, are always extreme, dramatic, and confrontational. What is so special about Gerritsen's work is that within a somewhat outrageous story she wraps a deeper, existential message." --Trouw

"Gerritsen juggles a fairly large cast of characters around Roxy, and her handling of them is impressive...Roxy is perhaps most successful in Gerritsen's refusal to wallow in the sentimental." --The Complete Review

"While it may have been the promise of misery that first attracted me to the book, though, it is largely the wit and humour that make this such a powerful read...This is writing of the highest order." --Bookmunch

On Craving

"Funny, transparent, and complicated, Craving is a refreshingly honest portrayal of what can happen when a dysfunctional family faces sudden death. An extraordinary, haunting book, Craving is a short novel with staying power." --The Gazette

"The lives of others, in all their peculiarity, are given sympathetic scrutiny in this diverting European oddity, in cool prose and naturalistic dialogue."--Kirkus Reviews

"Droll and horrific and incredibly moving"--The New York Times

About the Author

Esther Gerritsen is a Dutch novelist, columnist, and playwright. She made her literary debut in 2000. She is one of the most established, widely read, and highly praised authors in the Netherlands, and makes regular appearances on radio programs and at literary festivals. Esther Gerritsen had the honor of writing the Dutch Book Week gift in 2016, which had a print run of 700,000 copies. In 2014 she was awarded the Frans Kellendonk Prize for her oeuvre. Her book Craving was made into a film in 2018, and film rights have been sold for Roxy.