Lapvona is a 2022 novel by Ottessa Moshfegh.[1] It is Moshfegh's fifth novel.[2]
 First edition (US) | |
| Author | Ottessa Moshfegh |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Penguin Press (US) Jonathan Cape (UK) |
Publication date | June 21, 2022 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print, e-book, audiobook |
| Pages | 320 |
| ISBN | 978-0-5933-0026-8 (hardcover) |
| Preceded by | Death in Her Hands |
Synopsis
editIn Lapvona, a corrupt medieval fiefdom, deformed 13 year-old Marek lives with his cruel shepherd father Jude and was nursed from birth by the village witch. When Marek commits a crime, the cruel lord Villiam demands that Jude give Marek to him as reparations, and Marek goes to live in his castle. Now suddenly thrust into noble life, Marek is caught in a deathly power struggle of corruption and debauchery.
Background
editLapvona was written by Moshfegh during the COVID-19 pandemic and was announced on April 12, 2021.[3] The novel was published by Penguin Press on June 21, 2022.[1]
Reception
editAt the review aggregator website Book Marks, which assigns individual ratings to book reviews from mainstream literary critics, the novel received a cumulative "Mixed" rating based on 27 reviews: 7 "Rave" reviews, 5 "Positive" reviews, 5 "Mixed" reviews, and 10 "Pan" review.[4]
In a review for the New York Times, Dwight Garner criticized the novel for lacking Moshfegh's typical wit, and that it is "narrow in its emotional range, a bleak, meandering and muddy-soled mix of fairy tale and folk horror."[5] Kirkus Reviews compared the novel to Moshfegh's earlier works and found the tone "stiff" and the plot "meandering".[2] The reviewer at Publishers Weekly, however, found the book "deliriously quirky" and declared it "a triumph".[6]
References
edit- ^ a b "Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh". Penguin Random House. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
- ^ a b "Lapvona". Kirkus Reviews. April 15, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
- ^ "Announcing Ottessa Moshfegh's next novel, Lapvona, coming next summer". LitHub. April 12, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
- ^ "Book Marks reviews of Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh". Book Marks. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
- ^ "Ottessa Moshfegh's 'Lapvona' Is Gloomy Folk Horror Set Long Ago". New York Times. June 13, 2022. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
- ^ "Lapvona". Publishers Weekly. March 8, 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
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