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The First House

By Avni Doshi
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Brief Description
From the Booker Prize-shortlisted author of Burnt Sugar comes a gripping psychodrama of unravelling and rebirth. A woman's husband walks into their bedroom one evening and tells her that he wants a divorce. She is stunned. They have always had a happy marriage, an almost perfect... Read More
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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

From the Booker Prize-shortlisted author of Burnt Sugar comes a gripping psychodrama of unravelling and rebirth.

A woman's husband walks into their bedroom one evening and tells her that he wants a divorce. She is stunned. They have always had a happy marriage, an almost perfect marriage. In the following days, marooned with two young daughters in a hostile suburb, the woman starts coming apart.

As she sifts through the ruins of a shared life, she begins to notice the warning signs which she chose not to see the first time around. She wanders deep into her own mind, where marital scenes intermingle with the old myths of headless women and vengeful goddesses. Over the course of a single summer, she is splitting like an insect in its chrysalis, liquifying and reforming, stretching her new antennae toward the light.

Stiletto-sharp and darkly hypnotic, this is a novel about unhappy families - about the bloody battlefield of the home and the enduring threat posed by those closest to us.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241819081

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 16 July 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Hamish Hamilton Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 25.0mm

Width: 138.0mm

Height: 222.0mm

Weight: 400g

Pages: 240

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About the Author

Avni Doshi was born in New Jersey in 1982. Her debut novel, Burnt Sugar, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2020, longlisted for the Women's Prize 2021, and won the Sushila Devi Award 2021. It was named a Book of the Year by the Guardian, Economist, Spectator, New York Times Book Review and NPR and has been translated into 26 languages. Avni Doshi's writing has appeared in British Vogue, Granta and the Sunday Times. Her second novel will be published in July 2026; it is called The First House.

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