The Rabbit Hutch: A novel

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER - A NEW YORKER ESSENTIAL READ - The standout literary debut that everyone is talking about - "Inventive, heartbreaking and acutely funny."--The Guardian

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, TIME, NPR, Oprah Daily, People

Blandine isn't like the other residents of her building.

An online obituary writer. A young mother with a dark secret. A woman waging a solo campaign against rodents -- neighbors, separated only by the thin walls of a low-cost housing complex in the once bustling industrial center of Vacca Vale, Indiana.

Welcome to the Rabbit Hutch.

Ethereally beautiful and formidably intelligent, Blandine shares her apartment with three teenage boys she neither likes nor understands, all, like her, now aged out of the state foster care system that has repeatedly failed them, all searching for meaning in their lives.

Set over one sweltering week in July and culminating in a bizarre act of violence that finally changes everything, The Rabbit Hutch is a savagely beautiful and bitingly funny snapshot of contemporary America, a gorgeous and provocative tale of loneliness and longing, entrapment and, ultimately, freedom.

"Gunty writes with a keen, sensitive eye about all manner of intimacies―the kind we build with other people, and the kind we cultivate around ourselves and our tenuous, private aspirations."--Raven Leilani, author of Luster

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416 pages

Average rating: 5.84

68 RATINGS

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fionaian

Sep 30, 2024

6/10 stars

2.5 stars. This was an ambitious debut polyphonic novel. The backdrop of the affordable housing development in a dying rustbelt town reveals the dire consequences of consumerism and capitalism. Everything is transactional, and the governmental systems and private sector at hand take no responsibility for the slow death of the housing complex or the residents inside. The main character Blandine is what drew me to continue reading through this interweaving narrative, but the disorganization of minor characters’ stories and side characters’ lives made me question the author’s approach to tie it all together at the end. It would make more sense if this was a collection of short stories centered around the residents of the Rabbit Hutch apartments instead of a single novel.

Anonymous

Jul 05, 2024

8/10 stars

You have to give props to anyone who weaves Hildegard of Bingen into a story! This was an interesting character study of tenants of "The Rabbit Hutch," a low-income housing unit in the middle of Vacca Vale, Indiana, one of America's "dying cities." I thought the whole thing with the teacher was an unnecessary distraction though.

Maddieholmes

Aug 28, 2023

7/10 stars

Content warning for violence, death, sexual violence, statutory rape, grooming/child sexual abuse, animal abuse, stalking, home invasion, and related topics. I think this was a weird book. I'm still thinking about it, so a good weird. The characters felt completely unique, I don't think I've read people quite like this. I liked how the story was set up, but sometimes the writing was a bit much.

richardbakare

Jul 08, 2023

2/10 stars

The clever part of this book is the various voices Tess Gunty gives life to. Each persona is given ample space for fleshing out their details which overall creates a compelling tapestry of experiences. That myriad of perspectives is also what adds to the disjointed experience of reading this novel. Combined with a misuse of the non-linear format, you’re left searching for the anchor that should bring it all together. In the maze of all these lives Gunty makes damning and unapologetic quips about society and capitalism. Most of which I agree with mind you. But, had the novel been less packed with a cacophony of voices there would have been more room for her to expound on her ideas regarding feminism and the female experience. Especially, in what it means to be a woman in a violent world under the thumb of a patriarchal and capitalist hegemony. Maybe this confusion is what Gunty intended. To illustrate the colossal mess that is existence and that there are no convenient threads to explain it all. For me it was a very odd story told in a maladdress manner. Gusty says a lot without saying anything by doing too much. It felt like the book version of performative activism. Something the key event in the story only reinforces. A book I think successfully achieves what Gunty was going for is “Girl, Woman, Other” by Bernardine Evaristo.

E Clou

May 10, 2023

8/10 stars

This book is fabulous- great writing and ultimately even a great story. The reason I'm withholding a star is that early on we're told that [spoiler, but not really as it's the beginning] the main character will stabbed to death and I lived in complete terror of this the entire time I was reading the book and I didn't enjoy that anxiety. Also there was just a lot of violence in the book which I also dislike.

People are always like "why don't you just quit if you're not enjoying it?!" Well, this is why. Books this great are why. Sometimes my stubbornness pays off.

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