Green Dot

An irresistible and messy love story about the terrible allure of wanting something that promises nothing from debut author Madeleine Gray

At twenty-four, Hera is a clump of unmet potential. To her, the future is nothing but an exhausting thought exercise, one depressing hypothetical after another. She's sharp in more ways than one, adrift in her own smug malaise, until her new job moderating the comments section of an online news outlet-a role even more mind-numbing than it sounds-introduces her to Arthur, a middle-aged journalist. Though she's preferred women to men for years now, she soon finds herself falling into an all-consuming affair with him. She is coming apart with want and loving every second of it! Well, except for the tiny hiccup that Arthur has a wife-and that she has no idea Hera exists.

With its daringly specific and intimate voice, Green Dot is a darkly hilarious and deeply felt examination of the joys and indignities of coming into adulthood against the pitfalls of the twenty-first century and the winding, tortuous, and often very funny journey we take in deciding who we are and who we want to be.

Autorentext

Madeleine Gray

Zusammenfassung

Shortlisted for the British Book Awards Best Debut Fiction
An IndieNext Pick for March 2024
Named a Best Book of 2024 (So Far) the BBC**
Named a Best Book of February 2024 by People Magazine****
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by Debutiful**
Named one of Electric Literature's "42 Queer Books You Need to Read in 2024"

"Gray skillfully blends a rom-com-like breeziness with incisive, nuanced commentary on societal expectations, modern disconnection, responsibility in relationships and selfhood. . . What both Hera and this reader expect to happen in the relationship happens, but this doesn't come as a disappointment. Instead, the novel earns its way toward a satisfactory resolution for Hera, who is, after all, the hero of the story."
-**Alexandra Chang, The New York Times Book Review**

"A heartfelt debut about the joys and disasters of young adulthood."
-People Magazine

"An exceptionally funny debut . . . Perceptive and hilarious, Hera charges ahead, fully aware of the trope into which she has stumbled. Gray's prose circumvents any hint of banality; the language is too raw, too funny, too simultaneously irreverent and vulnerable."
-**Jackie Thomas-Kennedy, Minneapolis Star Tribune**

"Conversations with Friends meets Several People Are Typing."
-Michelle Hart, Electric Literature

"Gray's debut is a laugh-out-loud, messy love affair that is a refreshing take on younger women and older married men."
-Debutiful

"Woven with layers, from the love affair at its surface to the enthralling depths of what it means to be alive, Green Dot is rich, meaningful and hilarious. With a messy narrator who you are guaranteed to love, this is the kind of story that sets itself apart."
-Isabelle McConville, B&N Reads

"Green Dot is a sparkling debut-laugh out loud funny and achingly sad."
-Gillian Anderson, award-wining actress

"[Gray] is such a major talent. . . . so painfully and yet whoopingly witty at the same time. What a writer!"
-Nigella Lawson, author of Nigella Express

"By the time Hera finds out that Arthur is married, it's already too late-she's enamored. Gray's writing skillfully captures the passion of their early trysts. The sex scenes crackle with energy, and the chemistry between Hera and Arthur is believable and seductive. . . A breezy, heartfelt coming-of-age story for Gen Zers concerned with how to grow up without growing cold."
-Kirkus Reviews

"Hera is vibrantly written, and Gray thankfully provides her narration with enough distance for self-clarity. . . . Gray's unflinching bildungsroman is great fun."
-Publishers Weekly

"This book! What a gutting, funny, smart, smart, smart book it is, one that I absolutely inhaled while almost constantly emotionally bracing myself. Madeleine Gray is a hilarious, humane, and highly perceptive writer."
-Claire Lombardo, New York Times bestselling author of The Most Fun We Ever Had

"I wolfed Green Dot down over two nights. An incredibly funny book about a woman having an affair that's a really bad idea. Every sentence sparkles."
-Caitlin Moran, New York Times bestselling author of How To Be A Woman

"Madeleine Gray takes a scalpel to millennial malaise, office romance, and infidelity, and the result is a brainy, gutsy, nervy-and hilarious-wonder of a novel."
-Meg Howrey, author of They're Going to Love You