"Cool, sparse, and delicious, Esther Gerritsen’s Craving hits all the right notes. This is an author who is unafraid of both complex characters and complex emotion (Thank God!)." ―Alice Sebold, author of *The Lovely Bones* "Funny, angry, feminist...Droll and horrific and incredibly moving"― *The New York Times Book Review Elisabeth is dying. Coco jumps at this chance to prove her love, and promptly moves in with her deteriorating mother. A venture that quickly sends both parties spiraling out of control. Alongside a supporting cast of ex-bosses, ex-husbands, and (soon to be ex) boyfriends, the two women attempt to work through the annals of their dark yet often wildly humorous relationship. Psychologically astute and eye-poppingly candid, this is a tale about both excess and denial in which some things perhaps would have been better left unspoken. Sometimes the only person who understands you in this world is your hairdresser… Gerritsen’s sparse and lucid prose chimes with the absurdist logic and melancholy wit of characters as true as they are ridiculous. *

"A novel you devour in one sitting: elegiac, beautiful, and very strong." —Herman Koch, author of The Dinner Roxy's life is turned upside down when her husband is killed in a car crash, his naked body found entangled with his lover's. Twenty-seven-year-old Roxy is left behind with their daughter, her husband's personal assistant, and their babysitter to come to terms with this shameful end to her marriage. Looking to break free from her grief, Roxy takes the three of them on an impromptu road trip filled with darkly humorous observations about loss, parental responsibility, and the expiration date of love. Through masterful dialogues and in her trademark lucid style, Gerritsen introduces the reader to a woman whose response to grief both shocks and endears.