Rouge

In the horror-tinged, gothic fairy tale Rouge, a dress shop clerk's pursuit of youth and beauty leads her down a treacherous path after her mother's unexpected death. With the help of a pair of red shoes, Belle is lured into the barbed embrace of La Maison de Méduse, where she discovers the frightening secret behind her and her mother's obsession with the mirror. This novel explores the cult-like nature of the beauty industry and the danger of internalizing its pitiless gaze.

Format: Hardback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 14 September 2023
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd

From the critically acclaimed author of Bunny comes a horror-tinted, gothic fairy tale about a lonely dress shop clerk whose mother's unexpected death sends her down a treacherous path in pursuit of youth and beauty. Can she escape her mother's fate and find a connection that is more than skin deep?

A Most Anticipated Book of 2023 in The Guardian, i newspaper, The New York Times, Time, Globe and Mail, Bustle, The Millions, LitHub, TOR, Good Housekeeping, Our Culture Mag, and more!

You think, "Shes not going to go there... yes, she is." Margaret Atwood

The trancelike, rhapsodic language and deepening atmosphere of unreality make for a narrative that oozes with unease.

The Guardian

'Rouge is a must-read for anyone who has found themselves obsessively, and even dangerously, fixated on self-improvement.'

Dreamline, hypnotic and enchanting in its language, Rouge proves Awad is a huge talent.

Stylist, Book of the Month

'A tale of insidious damage of envy and our preoccupation with appearances. Anyone maintaining a ten-step Korean skincare regimen may feel seen.'

Awad ramps up the grand guignol hysteria rather splendidly, chucking in some film noir tropes for good measure as we hurtle towards a demonic denouement.

The Times

'Rouge is a story in which dreams become nightmares and vice versa. Desire and danger walk hand-in-hand, and Awad skilfully manipulates the vertiginous tension between them. The beauty industry is ripe for Awad's signature treatment: gothic satire, bloody but beautifully done. Much of it is darkly hilarious.'

Daily Telegraph

[D]ark and seductive.

i newspaper

An edgy fable on the perils of.

Weight: 458g
Dimension: 144 x 227 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781398504936