Winter Animals
On sale
1st February 2024
Price: £24.99
A seductive, sapphic debut about the power of youthful idealism from an exciting young award-winning writer
In one of America’s Happiest Cities, Elen is trapped under the shadow of the snow-capped Cascade Mountains. Her husband has left her. Her belongings are in the boot of her car. Her days are filled mostly with silence and drinking. When she meets four English teenagers in an empty bar, she is enamoured.
The teenagers are wealthy squatters, drifting between ski resorts and breaking into empty AirBnBs. As they welcome Elen into their group, she senses a violent secret that fuels the four’s never-ending disappearing act, simmering beneath the well-oiled machine of their socialist bliss.
Vibrant and cultish, they force Elen to ruminate on the irresistible pull of bright young things. She cannot understand what they want from her – but why would Elen leave when she has nowhere else to go?
A dark meditation on the dangers and seductive power of youthful idealism, and the slippages between friendship and love, Winter Animals is an extraordinary debut examining freedom, friendship, desire, and excess.
(P)2024 Little Brown Book Group Limited for and on behalf of Dialogue Books
In one of America’s Happiest Cities, Elen is trapped under the shadow of the snow-capped Cascade Mountains. Her husband has left her. Her belongings are in the boot of her car. Her days are filled mostly with silence and drinking. When she meets four English teenagers in an empty bar, she is enamoured.
The teenagers are wealthy squatters, drifting between ski resorts and breaking into empty AirBnBs. As they welcome Elen into their group, she senses a violent secret that fuels the four’s never-ending disappearing act, simmering beneath the well-oiled machine of their socialist bliss.
Vibrant and cultish, they force Elen to ruminate on the irresistible pull of bright young things. She cannot understand what they want from her – but why would Elen leave when she has nowhere else to go?
A dark meditation on the dangers and seductive power of youthful idealism, and the slippages between friendship and love, Winter Animals is an extraordinary debut examining freedom, friendship, desire, and excess.
(P)2024 Little Brown Book Group Limited for and on behalf of Dialogue Books
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
Compelling
A debut full of ideas. I have the sense that this is the first of many new worlds.
A talented writer . . . Winter Animals is a dreamlike, piercing examination of privilege, youth and freedom.
Excellent . . . Ashani Lewis is superbly talented.
A remarkable novel: atmospheric as hell, beautiful, and delightfully intelligent. Its unique sentences sparkle with energy. Think The Secret History written by Raven Leilani. I devoured it and am left wanting more, Ashani Lewis is a rare talent!
A glittering, dark-edged tale of snow, hedonism, passion, friendship and squatting that explores what happens when a group of rich kids attempt to live out their questionable utopian ideals. Exhilarating and fabulous, I raced through it.
Beautiful writing
Thoughtful, intelligent and beautifully written . . . Lewis is definitely a new talent to watch.