“With her debut novel, Oliver channels intense grief and strange body horror with the story of a woman seeking release from the pain that threatens to consume her.”
Still grieving from the loss of her sister, Marianne discovers a thick, black hair protruding from her spine.
The doctors say it’s just a physical reaction to her grief. After admitting that things aren’t really going so well, Marianne decides to take some time at a health retreat in the Welsh countryside.
There, she finds the other patients won’t speak to her. She wonders if she can even trust the staff, though they seem so helpful.
Marianne feels she is losing control of her mind, her body, even her memories. The sweet escape she wants is so, so close … but it will come with a horrifying price to pay.
Why we’re excited about this book:
Sally Oliver has spent most of her publishing career on the other side of the fence, working on the business side with W. W. Norton Ltd, and most recently at Penguin. With her debut novel, Oliver channels intense grief and strange body horror with the story of a woman seeking release from the pain that threatens to consume her. Alice Ash (Paradise Block) calls The Weight of Loss as “Strangely ethereal, yet entirely solid and compelling, this is a unique novel that talks with startling clarity and composure about the in-between spaces, the possibilities of being, and the connection between the living and the dead.”, and Ian McGuire (The Abstainer) says: “The Weight of Loss is a beautifully written and intensely felt novel. Its subject matter—grief and mortality—is timeless, but its method, a startling combination of emotional realism and gothic horror, feels brand new.”
Releasing 2 June 2022 from Oneworld Publications, The Weight of Loss by Sally Oliver (published as Garden of Earthly Bodies, 7 June 2022 in the US) is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA
