Sarah Bruni

A haunting, indelible novel of collective grief, resistance, and the virtue of testimony A. is an amateur translator. Adrift and burdened by debt following a medical trauma, her nights are spent on the dance floor. There, she encounters N. Among N.’s meagre possessions, A. comes across a book about an unnamed town of disappearing boys. The book, Field Notes, documents a community of mothers who assemble to mourn their missing sons. When a near-assault stuns A. out of her inertia, she takes off for the city where Field Notes was written in search of its author and the end of the story. But, A’s digging leads her instead to the traces of a murdered poet, and a legacy that will intersect unexpectedly and pivotally with her own life. Poignant and profoundly humane, Mass Mothering is a story of the mutuality of grief, the shattering force of a mother’s love, and the aftershocks of violence in a globalised era.

A haunting, indelible novel of collective grief, resistance, and the radical, life-affirming virtue of testimony A. is an amateur translator, living alone in an unforgiving, late-capitalist metropolis. Adrift and burdened by debt following a medical trauma, she makes rent caring for a young boy who is not and could never be her own. Her nights are spent on the dance floor, chasing spontaneous connection. There, she encounters N., who shares her numbed state and sometimes her bed. Among N.'s meager possessions, A. comes across a slim book about an unnamed foreign town of disappearing boys. The book, Field Notes, documents the stories of a community of mothers who assemble to mourn their missing sons together. A. is transfixed by this collective chorus of primal grief, the mothers' preternatural strength, and their intuitive care for one another. When a near-assault stuns A. out of her inertia, she takes off for the city where Field Notes was written in search of its author and the end of his story. But A.'s digging leads her instead to the traces of a murdered poet, a mysterious woman whose legacy will intersect unexpectedly and pivotally with A.'s own life. Poignant and profoundly humane, Mass Mothering is told through layered voices, written fragments, and recorded testimonies. It is a luminous story of the mutuality of grief, the aftershocks of violence in a globalized era, and the world-bending force of a mother's love.

An offbeat love story about the adventures and mutual rescue of a young woman out of place in her hometown and a mysterious stranger who calls himself Peter Parker (and begins to cast her in the role of Spider-Man's first sweetheart), The Night Gwen Stacy Died is about first loss, first love, and finding our real identities. "A dreamy world where comic book characters and psychic visions are as real as teenage boredom and young love, Bruni's debut is a magical story, a white-knuckle thrill ride." --Diana Spechler, author of Who by Fire "The perspective shifts, slippery identities, and lurking weirdness in this book recall the peak moments of Kurosawa, Hitchcock, and Lynch. But to describe it in cinematic terms would risk slighting that bighearted, sneakily exhilarating voice that can finally be only the work of a masterful writer." --Sean Howe, author of Marvel Comics: The Untold Story "Bruni's fiercely smart and delectably unpredictable first novel delivers again and again that most sought-after shiver up the spine, the chill that comes when you realize the world you thought you knew and understood is newer and stranger than you ever dared imagine. A genuine page-turner." --Kathryn Davis, author of The Thin Place "Mixed into this novel's blustery atmosphere are gusts of contemporary masters, like Joy Williams, Lorrie Moore, Kelly Link, and Michael Chabon. This gave me the sort of reading experience I always hope for but almost never find: a world that somehow both resembles the one in which I live and is also unlike any other I've ever seen or read." --Stefan Merrill Block, author of The Story of Forgetting "A brave and bold new voice, Bruni takes us on an unexpected adventure of love and loss, of beginnings and ends, all the while showing us what it really means to be a hero." --Alison Espach, author of The Adults