Stephanie Danler – författare

From the author of the international bestseller Sweetbitter, a memoir of survival, starting over, and love in all its complicated guises.Even after achieving her dream of selling her debut novel, Stephanie Danler feels adrift in New York. Struggling in the throes of a doomed relationship and haunted by her tumultuous childhood, something nameless compels her to return home to Southern California.In a cottage in Laurel Canyon, as a new life begins to shape itself, she finally succumbs to memories of the past that have proved impossible to escape. A father who swung in and out of her life erratically, charming and mercurial and prone to addiction. A mother now disabled by years of alcoholism and an aneurysm, who cannot remember the abuse she inflicted. The looming, desolate mountains of Colorado, and a teenage freedom that nearly killed her. And above all, the painful love and forgiveness for those who failed her over and over again.‘It's such a thrill to watch a writer open up her greediest thoughts, to slice open little pockets of her skin and root around underneath her flesh.’ New York Times Book Review  ‘A compulsive, neck-breaking masterpiece.’ Lisa Taddeo‘This is a story of triumph: the triumph of grit, talent, grace, and beauty over the dark pull of inner demons.’ Dani Shapiro

From the internationally bestselling author of Sweetbitter, a provocative and heady mix of true crime and dark pyschological noir, set during the Menendez trial in 1990s LALos Angeles, early 90s. Rodney King has been beaten, East LA has burned, the Northridge earthquake has collapsed the 10 freeway, and two handsome brothers from Beverly Hills are on trial for the brutal murder of their parents. The entire country is riveted.So is Hugo Byrne.A renowned journalist – decades sober, privately repressed, and haunted by the violent death of his own daughter – Hugo arrives at the Chateau Marmont to cover the trial for a glossy national magazine. He intends to write the definitive account of the Menendez trial. Instead, he finds himself less interested in the evidence, and pulled into something murkier, lurid, and tragic.What happens outside the courtroom is just as fascinating as the theatrE inside. And no one fascinates Hugo more than his close friend Liv Ellis, a quick-witted, bookish Beverly Hills society wife who accompanies Hugo to the trial and whose obsession with the trial is as mysterious as her origins.What happened in the Menendez house? Who is Liv Ellis? And what happens in the homes of the glitterati that haunt the city’s seen and be seen restaurants, hotel lounges and tennis clubs?A heady mix of true crime and dark psychological noir, Smog is a story of wealth, privilege, and abuse – a suspenseful inquiry into the dark heart of that universal institution that is supposed to protect us but so often betrays: the family.

‘A fantastic read – think Girls meets Kitchen Confidential’ Stylist‘An adrenalised love song’ Mail on Sunday'A stunning debut novel’ Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City*AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016 | A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | A USA TODAY BESTSELLER | AN INDIE BESTSELLER* Tess is the 22-year-old narrator of this stunning first novel. Moving to New York, a place at the centre of the universe, from a place that feels like ‘nowhere to live’, she lands a job at a renowned Union Square restaurant and begins to navigate the chaotic and punishing life of a waiter, on and off duty. As her appetites awaken – not just for food and wine but also for knowledge and friendship – Tess becomes helplessly drawn into a dark, alluring love triangle.Sweetbitter is a novel of the senses. Of taste and hunger, of love and desire, and the wisdom that comes from our experiences, both sweet and bitter.