Rouge

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, “She’s 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

‘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. […] If you like your fairy tales dark and for adults only, then stick along for the wild ride.’  Daily Telegraph

'[D]ark and seductive.' i newspaper

'An edgy fable on the perils of our modern fascination with beauty.' Vogue 

'Awad is a genius, preternaturally gifted at creating vicious, hilarious tales about the depravity inside us.' Vulture

About the Author

Mona Awad is the author of the novels All’s Well, Bunny, and 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl. Bunny was a finalist for a Goodreads Choice Award and the New England Book Award. It was named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME, Vogue, and the New York Public Library. It is currently being developed for film with Bad Robot Productions. All’s Well was a finalist for a Goodreads Choice Award. 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl was shortlisted for the Giller Prize. Awad’s forthcoming novel Rouge, is being adapted for film by Fremantle and Sinestra. This spring, Margaret Atwood named Awad her ‘literary heir’ in The New York Times’s T Magazine. She teaches fiction in the creative writing program at Syracuse University and is based in Boston.