Kirjahaku

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.'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

Elisabeth is dying. Coco jumps at this chance to prove her love, and promptly moves in with her deteriorating mother. A venture that quickly sends both parties spiraling out of control. Alongside a supporting cast of ex-bosses, ex-husbands, and (soon to be ex) boyfriends, the two women attempt to work through the annals of their dark yet often wildly humorous relationship. Psychologically astute and eye-poppingly candid, this is a tale about both excess and denial in which some things perhaps would have been better left unspoken. Sometimes the only person who understands you in this world is your hairdresser… Gerritsen's sparse and lucid prose chimes with the absurdist logic and melancholy wit of characters as true as they are ridiculous. 'Cool, sparse, and delicious, Esther Gerritsen's Craving hits all the right notes. This is an author who is unafraid of both complex characters and complex emotion (Thank God!).' — Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones