Permission

Formidable in its elegance and fierce in its simplicity, Saskia Vogel's writing leaves the reader stunned and moved and wanting more * Andrea Scrima, author of A Lesser Day * Beautifully written, mysterious and compelling * Janet Fitch * Permission excavates the uncertain landscape that lies just beneath the Hollywood dream factory we think we all know and against all odds finds something sacred there * Ryan Ruby, author of The Zero and the One * Vogel's writing is beauty in motion. From capturing a humiliating date with a predatory agent to what attracts people to BDSM, this is an addictive read you'll finish within hours * Stylist * A story about grief, loneliness and sadomasochism . . . it challenges any preconceptions you might have about BDSM in literature . . . Permission is sometimes a dark, even gruelling, read. But it possesses an unshowy beauty, too, suggesting Vogel is a gleaming new talent -- Arifa Akbar * Observer (New Review) * [Permission] delicately explores all the things that are part and parcel of our sexual lives: intimacy, community, desire, alienation, consent and power * HUCK Magazine * The debut literary novel from a journalist and translator, and it deals with sexual politics, power and consent in a subtle and convincing way . . . Vogel negotiates her story with a real sense of empathy and understanding for all her characters. In precise, elegant prose, she delivers an alternative feminist love story for the modern age * Big Issue * Vogel's portrayal of sexual kink is particularly refreshing: rather than pruriently gorging on catharsis, Permission foregrounds the emotional intimacy - built on constancy, trust and compassion - that can flourish in the most unconventional relationships * Guardian * This [is] dreamy, whip-smart first fiction * Oprah Magazine * Permission conveys [Echo's] preoccupation with desire through visceral prose that imbues everything - from the unstable California landscape to the banalities of affluent suburbia - with sensuality -- Natasha Young * The Believer * In Saskia Vogel's debut novel, Permission, desire is explored in its rich entirety and complexity, in its intersections with every day life, stress and lingering grief * Times Literary Supplement *

Saskia Vogel is from Los Angeles and lives in Berlin, where she works as a writer and Swedish-to-English literary translator. She has written on power and sexuality for publications such as Paris Review Daily, The White Review, Sight and Sound, and The Offing. Previously, she worked as Granta magazine's publicist and as an editor at the AVN Media Network, where she reported on pornography and adult pleasure products.