Edendale —Jacquelyn Stolos

In northeast Los Angeles, wildfires rage and coyotes stalk the neighbourhood streets. The wind blows heavy with smoke and, inside a rented bungalow on hilly Lemoyne Street, the air grows heavy with something else.

Ropey closes his checking account and transfers his net worth to his sock drawer. Megan sharpens pencils and chops produce to obsession. Lyle tightens his grip on his girlfriend Egypt, whose growing dependence makes her question everything, especially Lyle. And Captain America, the cat of the house, finds his orange coat giving way to a nest of bleeding sores. As the fires burn ever closer, will the four friends wake up to their false paradise?

‘A tale of environmental horror in every sense of the phrase … Stolos’s debut announces her as a powerful ethnographer of our time.’
– Tess Gunty, author of The Rabbit Hutch

‘An exquisite and heartbreaking slow burn, Edendale is a novel that will haunt you in the best way. I loved it.’
— Isabel Kaplan, author of NSFW

‘Realistic and apocalyptic at the same time and captures the great complexity of youth. This is a first novel with a big heart by a writer to watch.’
— Rick Moody, author of The Ice Storm

‘Strange, funny, dark, violent, frightening, compelling, and mysterious … a powerful and unique story about young, alienated people trying to find their way in an inhospitable world.’
— Edan Lepucki, author of California