Paul by Daisy LaFarge

From an award-winning talent comes a mesmeric debut novel about a young woman falling under the spell of an older man

Frances is a graduate student spending a summer volunteering in rural France, in the hope that tending vegetables and harvesting honey will distract her from a scandal that drove her out of Paris, her research unfinished and her sense of self unmoored.

At the eco-farm Noa Noa, named for his adventures in Tahiti, she comes under the influence of its charismatic and domineering owner, Paul. As his hold over her tightens and her plans come unstuck, she finds herself entangled in a strange, uneven relationship. On a fraught road trip across the South of France, both are forced to reckon with uncomfortable truths. A compelling and perturbing story of power, passivity and the cage of being 'good', Paul introduces a novelist of extraordinary perspicacity and lyricism.

REVIEWS

"A work of dark, shimmering genius. The novel explores the toxicity of patriarchy with excoriating intelligence, verve and originality."- Rebecca Tamás, author of Witch

"Lafarge's prose is faultless. At first glance, Paul is charmingly readable. Look more closely, though, and you'll find something much, much darker and more sophisticated. Look a little longer and you'll be so hooked you won't be able to put it down." -Betty Trask Award judges

"This is a work of dark, shimmering genius... The novel explores the toxicity of patriarchy [with] excoriating intelligence, verve & originality... brutally contemporary & utterly timeless." -Rebecca Tamás

PRODUCT DETAILS
Paperback
Publisher: Riverhead Books
ISBN:  978-0593538852
Pages: 304