Animal

One of my favourite authors of all time -- Dua Lipa

Few writers can match Taddeo's swagger on sentence-level. She has a knack for the unexpected, shocking phrase that feels nonchalantly tossed, like dynamite to a fire ― The Globe and Mail

A compulsive read. Taddeo's prose glitters with all the dark wit and flashes of insight that readers and critics admired in Three Women . . . Like Coel's I May Destroy You, Animal is unafraid to wrestle with big questions about sexual empowerment and consent, and doesn't pretend to have found neat answers ― Guardian

American Psycho for the #MeToo generation ― The Times

Propulsive, fiercely confident . . . Joan's voice is so sharp and magnetic that the reader will follow her anywhere ― New York Times

Joan's fury feels fitting, in a new age of righteous rage and brave honesty in female-driven and female-penned art, from Promising Young Women and I May Destroy You, to Raven Leilani's Luster ― Harper's Bazaar

An explosive, visceral story about childhood trauma, sexual violence, sisterhood and grief. In vivid, unforgiving prose, Taddeo charts the fate of its unforgettable antiheroine, Joan ― i

A raging, funny and fierce thriller with a protagonist whose life force, against extraordinary odds - always in the gaze and sometimes the grasp of predatory, abusive men - is a thing of wonder ― Financial Times

This summer's most-hyped book and more than lives up to the buzz . . . A dark, disturbing masterpiece, full of righteous female rage - every word roars right off the page ― Red

A fever dream of a read . . . Intense, disturbing and provoking, it's also a book that's filled with humanity, sensuality and, in the end, love and hope . . . Read, give to your friends and discuss at length ― Stylist

Wow. Dark, hypnotic and horrifying, with a central protagonist in Joan who demands your deepest empathy despite every transgression, it's brilliantly written and expertly done. I loved it -- Harriet Tyce, bestselling author of Blood Orange and The Lies You Told

An outstanding novel, unnerving but brilliant -- Samira Ahmed, BBC Radio 4 Front Row

I don't think there is a writer alive who writes about the interior lives of women with the raw truth and intensity [Taddeo] does . . . Fearless, sexy, brutal and just forensically observed. She is extraordinary -- Jojo Moyes

Raging, hilarious and utterly addictive ― Daily Mail

Scorching, unforgettable, stunningly beautiful, Animal blew my mind and has left me reeling -- Clover Stroud

[An] audacious debut novel ― Evening Standard

Reeling. Stunned. It is ablaze with rage and beauty. You've captured all the rage every woman has been suppressing her entire life. Mary Gaitskill eat your heart out -- Sam Baker

Riveting . . . Propulsive, erotic, emotional . . . Joan is almost impossible to look away from on every page ― Kirkus Reviews

The best way I can think to describe Lisa Taddeo's first novel is "like if Joan Didion got into hard drugs and carried a switchblade everywhere." Sun-parched, sinewy, and hostile (in a good way) ― Harper’s Bazaar

A riveting, visceral examination of trauma and rage told by a writer whose prose lights a match and burns up the page. Joan is an unforgettable antiheroine. I don't think I'll ever stop thinking about her. -- Elizabeth Day

About the Author