The Disassembly of Doreen Durand

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Pub Date 13 May 2021 | Archive Date 13 May 2021

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Description

From her apartment window, Doreen Durand witnesses a horrific accident.

The police want to know what she saw. Doreen doesn't want to tell them - or anyone. But when she runs away it's straight into the fantastic world of the wealthy and mysterious Violet Cascade. With one rogue police officer in pursuit, and life becoming more bizarre by the day, Doreen is caught up in a surreal game of cat and mouse.

From her apartment window, Doreen Durand witnesses a horrific accident.

The police want to know what she saw. Doreen doesn't want to tell them - or anyone. But when she runs away it's straight into...


Advance Praise

‘I read this genre-exploding, original debut in a single day, and was hooked by its vivid images, its spiky strangeness, and its profound understanding of the disembodying effects of surviving trauma and living under capitalism.’ Christina Neuwirth

‘I read this genre-exploding, original debut in a single day, and was hooked by its vivid images, its spiky strangeness, and its profound understanding of the disembodying effects of surviving trauma...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9781913207397
PRICE £14.99 (GBP)

Available on NetGalley

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Send to Kindle (EPUB)

Average rating from 5 members


Featured Reviews

Give this book a chance!!!

It may sound a bit strange and take you on a magical mystery tour throughout but it’s worth it all in the end

This was a beautiful story and one which I will treasure forever

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The prose was observant and compelling, and the plot was strange and millennial.

"...saying anything with a degree of sincerity threatened to lead to true existential trauma and lunch was only thirty minutes."

There's a bit of every genre here, but not in a way that feels like a hustle. The best way I can give you a feel for this book is to say it's like one of those butters that sounds funky when you describe the eclectic ingredients to a friend, but is delicious and odd when you eat it. It's a weird butter.

"The brown of her irises peeled away to reveal only black."

I enjoyed it, even as I'm left feeling a little like Doreen by the end - unsure of of what's been experienced - but knowing it was one. An experience. There are scenes that remain indelible, and there's a part of me who wants to keep poking at them, smoothing the crumpled parts flat until I can feel the watermark and get an answer. Am I Solloway, the policeman, in this review? I think perhaps I am. Perhaps that's the whole of it. There is no unreliable narrator, only the unreliable reader bent on finding an answer where there is only what happened.

"Stability was only a series of latches that needed tightening, locking, and leaving."

Thank you to NetGalley and Sandstone Press Ltd for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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It's weird, engrossing and I don't know what to write as my impression changed more times.
The style of writing is excellent, the characters fleshed, the plot is tightly knitted but you are always left wondering if you understood correctly or it's just a reflection of your emotional part.
I recommend it but beware that this is a sort of trip.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

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