Nightbitch
In this blazingly smart and voracious debut novel, an artist turned stay-at-home mom becomes convinced she's turning into a dog. - "A must-read for anyone who can't get enough of the ever-blurring line between the psychological and supernatural that Yellowjackets exemplifies." --Vulture
One day, the mother was a mother, but then one night, she was quite suddenly something else...
An ambitious mother puts her art career on hold to stay at home with her newborn son, but the experience does not match her imagination. Two years later, she steps into the bathroom for a break from her toddler's demands, only to discover a dense patch of hair on the back of her neck. In the mirror, her canines suddenly look sharper than she remembers. Her husband, who travels for work five days a week, casually dismisses her fears from faraway hotel rooms.
As the mother's symptoms intensify, and her temptation to give in to her new dog impulses peak, she struggles to keep her alter-canine-identity secret. Seeking a cure at the library, she discovers the mysterious academic tome which becomes her bible, A Field Guide to Magical Women: A Mythical Ethnography, and meets a group of mommies involved in a multilevel-marketing scheme who may also be more than what they seem.
An outrageously original novel of ideas about art, power, and womanhood wrapped in a satirical fairy tale, Nightbitch will make you want to howl in laughter and recognition. And you should. You should howl as much as you want.
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Community Reviews
"Her anger, her bitterness, her coldness in that darkest part of the night surprised even her. She wanted to think she had become another person altogether the night before, but she knew the horrible truth, that Nightbitch had always been there, not even that far below the surface."
You know when you're at the grocery store and suddenly you feel over stimulated and are filled with rage and also your head hurts and the produce isn't good enough and your period is coming? That's what this book feels like.
The unnamed protagonist of the book is a woman in the brink, or perhaps right in, of a crisis. She's recently become a stay at home mother and is trying to find the balance in her life but nothing seems to make sense. Then, she becomes convinced that she's turning into a dog which changes her whole life and relationships.
The premise of this book captivated me and I was ready to let it take me along for the ride. It's more of a reflection about what being a woman and mother is all about, the anger deep within ourselves, with a lot of introspection tinged with magical realism. If you want a book with an easy to follow plot that moves along at a stable pace then this book isn't for you.
I debated between giving this 4.5 or 5 stars due to the ending. It got a bit too out there with the art exhibit and the bigger leap away from some sort of reality. But I had enjoyed the book so much that I went for 5 stars. Plus, I knew some sort of art project was going to happen at the end, so it made sense. Overall, a fun adventure of a book that made me feel a lot.
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