Envy A Novel

"Kathryn Harrison is a wonderful writer...Spellbinding." -The New York Times Book Review "A juicy story of psychosexual suspence" -The Wall Street Journal "Shockingly complex and compulsively readable." -O, The Oprah Magazine "[Envy] has to be considered another succcess for one of the most interesting writers of her generation." -St. Louis Post Dispatch "Complex and disturbing...Envyis a masterfully constructed, insightful novel of psychosexual suspense that explores the destructive power of loss, betrayal, guilt and envy...an engaging, beautifully written story." -The Boston Globe "A compelling, beautifully written, well-constructed look at family problems that initially might seem insurmountable....Harrison is a truly gifted writer." -Deseret Morning News "The characters, their conflicts and their conversations do seem real, and their story, however improbable, will keep you turning the pages." -Newsday "Her ability to train an unflinching eye on some of the more frightening aspects of eroticism and the human psyche, combined with her uncommon wisdom, distinguishes her as one of the finest and most fearless storytellers writing today." BookForum "Envyis full of Harrison's astute, often mordant powers of physical and psychological observation...the fact is that Kathryn Harrison is one of our more earnestly impassioned and intellectually engaging players. Long may she run." Elle magazine Will has a good sex lifewith the woman he married. So why then is he increasingly plagued by violent erotic fantasies that, were they to break out of his imagination and into the real world, have the power to destroy not only his family but his career? He's about to lose his grip when he attends a college reunion and there discovers evidence of a past sexual betrayal, one serious enough that it threatens to overpower the present, even as it offers a key to Will's dangerous obsessions. Hypnotic, beautifully written, this mesmerizing novel by "an extremely gifted writer" (San Francisco Chronicle) explores the corrosive effect of eviland how painful psychological truths long buried within a family can corrupt the present and, through courage and understanding, lead to healing and renewal. "Like Scheherezade in the grip of a fever dream, Kathryn Harrison . . . has written one of those rare books, in language of unparalleled beauty, that affirm the holiness of life," said Shirley Ann Grau, aboutPoison. And the same can be said aboutEnvy. From the Hardcover edition.

Kathryn Harrison is the author of the novels The Seal Wife, The Binding Chair, Poison, Exposure, and Thicker Than Water. She has also written the memoirs The Kiss and The Mother Knot; a travel memoir, The Road to Santiago; a biography, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux; and a collection of essays, Seeking Rapture. She lives in New York with her husband, the novelist Colin Harrison, and their children.


From the Hardcover edition.