An electric contemporary reimagining of the myth of Persephone and Demeter set over the course
of one summer on a lush private island about addiction and sex family and independence and
who holds the power in a modern underworld. Camp counselor Cory Ansel eighteen and aimless
afraid to face her high-strung single mother in New York is no longer sure where home is when
the father of one of her campers offers an alternative. The CEO of a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical
company Rolo Picazo is middle-aged divorced magnetic. He is also intoxicated by Cory. When
Rolo proffers a childcare job (and an NDA) Cory quiets an internal warning and allows herself
to be ferried to his private island. Plied with luxury and opiates manufactured by his company
she continues to tell herself she's in charge. Her mother Emer head of a teetering
agricultural NGO senses otherwise. With her daughter seemingly vanished Emer crosses land and
sea to heed a cry for help she alone is convinced she hears. Alternating between the two
women's perspectives Rachel Lyon's Fruit of the Dead incorporates its mythic inspiration
with a light touch and devastating precision. The result is a tale that explores love control
obliteration and America's own late capitalist mythos. Lyon's reinvention of Persephone and
Demeter's story makes for a haunting and ecstatic novel that vibrates with lush abandon.
Readers will not soon forget it. Praise for Fruit of the Dead 'An unnerving literary
thriller... An absorbing exploration of ancient themes like power and temptation.' Mail on
Sunday 'Riveting and lush... a spellbinding account of a young woman's hunger for freedom
the sordid underbelly of big pharma and the siren call of addiction.' Leslie Jamison author
of Splinters 'A gripping literary thriller Fruit of the Dead presents a coming-of-age tale
that is so well-observed and intoxicating that the reader will lose track of time but won't
forget how they spent it. Egan and Cline fans: assemble.' Caoilinn Hughes author of The Wild
Laughter 'Ancient Greece meets Succession by way of Emma Cline Fruit of the Dead is a
deliciously dark examination of agency and power and the savage complexity of the
mother-daughter bond.' Ruth Gilligan author of The Butchers 'Mesmerised and profoundly
alarmed I read this in one go I've been haunted by it ever since. I've passionately loved
Lyon's writing for years and Fruit of the Dead further confirms what I've long suspected: I
want to lunge to read anything she writes.' R. O. Kwon author of The Incendiaries
