Until They Sleep - by Nadia Staikos (Paperback)

About the Book

"Frona is convinced she's the most sinful person in her Greek mountain village. When her parents arrange her marriage with a distant stranger, she is determined to suppress her impulses and become a dutiful wife and mother. But things don't go as planned: A furious fetus, a friend's secret wish, a man finding new life in an empty well, a lecherous priest, an unorthodox wandering daughter, invading soldiers, and a wayward ghost attempting reparations all erode the stories Frona has been telling herself about what it means to be a good person. A darkly comedic fairy tale with a magical feminist bent, Until They Sleep confronts the horrors of a world that tries to narrowly define womanhood and sexuality."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Frona is convinced she's the most sinful person in her Greek mountain village. When her parents arrange her marriage with a distant stranger, she is determined to suppress her impulses and become a dutiful wife and mother. But things don't go as planned: A furious fetus, a friend's secret wish, a man finding new life in an empty well, a lecherous priest, an unorthodox wandering daughter, invading soldiers, and a wayward ghost attempting reparations all erode the stories Frona has been telling herself about what it means to be a good person. A darkly comedic fairy tale with a magical feminist bent, Until They Sleep confronts the horrors of a world that tries to narrowly define womanhood and sexuality.

Review Quotes

"An exploration of guilt and the liberating effects of casting off shame, the novel regards even its most benighted characters with sympathy, and offers hope to those who would seem most entrenched in destructive patterns of thought and action." --Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Nadia Staikos (she/they) lives in Toronto with her two children. Their work has previously appeared in Barrelhouse, Poets & Writers, Lost Balloon, Montréal Writes, and elsewhere, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best Small Fictions. She is former Prose Editor at Chestnut Review and works for United for Literacy, a national literacy charity. Her debut novel, Until They Sleep, is forthcoming in 2025 from Guernica Editions.