Death in Her Hands is a 2020 novel by Ottessa Moshfegh.[1]
.png) U.S. first edition cover | |
| Author | Ottessa Moshfegh |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | Ann Marie Lee |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | |
| Publisher | Penguin Press |
Publication date | June 23, 2020 |
| Media type | Print, e-book, audiobook |
| Pages | 272 |
| ISBN | 978-1-9848-7935-6 (hardcover) |
| OCLC | 1110450886 |
| 813/.6 | |
| LC Class | PS3613.O77936 D43 2020 |
| Preceded by | My Year of Rest and Relaxation |
Synopsis edit
Vesta Gul, a 72-year-old widow, is walking her dog in the woods and finds a note that reads: "Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn't me. Here is her dead body." However, no body is in sight. Vesta becomes obsessed with discovering who Magda was and the circumstances surrounding her death.
Background edit
Death in Her Hands was originally scheduled to be published by Penguin Press on April 21, 2020,[2] but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] The novel was ultimately published by Penguin Press on June 23, 2020.[1]
Reception edit
At the review aggregator website Book Marks, which assigns individual ratings to book reviews from mainstream literary critics, the novel received a cumulative "Positive" rating based on 35 reviews: 7 "Rave" reviews, 19 "Positive" reviews, 8 "Mixed" reviews, and 1 "Pan" review.[4]
In its starred review, Kirkus Reviews called it an "eerie and affecting satire of the detective novel."[5]
In a mixed review, Publishers Weekly criticized the novel's narrative as being overly unreliable and wrote that the novel "lacks the devious, provocative fun of Moshfegh's other work".[6]
References edit
- ^ a b "Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh". Penguin Random House. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ^ Rankin, Seija (April 17, 2020). "Death Becomes Her: Inside Ottessa Moshfegh's morbidly chic world". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ^ Christensen, Lauren (April 16, 2020). "Ottessa Moshfegh Is Only Human". The New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ^ "Book Marks reviews of Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh". Book Marks. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ^ "Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh". Kirkus Reviews. January 27, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ^ "Fiction Book Review: Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh". Publishers Weekly. October 16, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
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