Strange Girls
Genre
Literary FictionUK & Commonwealth Publication
Dialogue BooksUS Publication
DuttonFilm & TV
Available
Blurb
From the prize-winning author of The Giant Dark comes a beautiful exploration of the ties that bind us and the scars they leave when they break.
Aliyah and Ava arrive in England from opposite corners of the world with dreams built upon Emily Brontë, Brideshead Revisited and Richard Curtis films. Instead, in the shadow of their historic, fairytale campus, they get the sense that they don’t belong. The two form a Vita-and-Virginia-like bond, building a world full of stories that they write together. For a time, they are inseparable in their identity as ‘strange girls’. When the end of university looms, they will have to return to the world where a devotion like this seems impossible to maintain.
Years later, Aliyah has everything Ava wants – a room of her own and a publishing deal – and, worse, the thing Ava was certain neither of them had ever wanted: a sensible doctor husband. Arriving back in London for a mutual friend’s hen party, Ava is desperate to unpack the truth of what she really meant to Aliyah.
Was what they had – whatever you call it – real?
And what will become of the stories they tell themselves about one another?
‘The beauty in Hasin’s U.S. debut is how she flawlessly and seemingly effortlessly brings readers into intimate moments without feeling intrusive. Heart lives on every page. The highs and lows of Ava and Aliya’s relationship shine in the quiet moments between the two. The silence and yearning are heartbreaking.’ – Debutiful
‘Winding and desirous, Sarvat’s writing is compelling and introspective, turning the human mythological and calling to anybody who’s had an intoxicating, all-consuming friendship.’ – The Cold Magazine
‘Masterfully weaving through past and present and between the threads of tension, jealousy, and tenderness, Strange Girls is a triumphant portrait of female friendship.’ – Bustle
