Rouge

April 1, 2023

When she meets a mysterious woman in red at her mother's funeral, dress shop clerk Belle is lured to La Maison de M�duse, a swanky, unnervingly cultlike spa to which her mother was devoted. There, she learns why both she and her mother have always been obsessed with mirrors. From the author of the Goodreads Choice finalist All's Well and the multi-best-booked Bunny. Prepub Alert.

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July 10, 2023
Awad (Bunny) satirizes anti-aging beauty regimens in this delightfully twisted fairy tale. Now a dress salesperson in Montreal, 38-year-old Belle spent her teen years in Southern California observing her mother Noelle’s meticulous skin-care routines. Belle sought to replicate those routines, despite Noelle’s assurance that she would never need them because of her Egyptian complexion, inherited from her father. Mother and daughter have long grown distant from each other when Noelle dies from a fall off a cliff near her home. Arriving in San Diego for the funeral, Belle learns Noelle had racked up thousands of dollars in debt and gained a mysterious group of friends in her obsessive pursuit of smooth skin. One night, Belle winds up at a party at Rouge, Noelle’s favorite spa. The dazzling hosts instantly recognize her as their late client’s daughter, and tell her that she’s the perfect candidate for their mysterious treatment (“Self-care is really our only escape from the Abyss,” one of them says). Though the narrative stretches on a bit too long, Awad invents increasingly warped skin-care routines as Belle falls under Rouge’s spell: her face is electrified, her memories are manipulated, and she stares at a jellyfish in a tank. The author’s acerbic wit radiates in this excoriating story of beauty’s ugly side.

August 1, 2023
A woman tangles with a cultlike spa and her own obsession with physical beauty in the wake of her mother's death in this hypnotic tour de force. Mirabelle Nour hasn't lived with her mother in years, but she's built a life that nevertheless feels like both a reflection and rejection of Noelle Des Jardins. She works in a dress shop, but not the one her mother co-owns in Southern California. She goes by Mira as an adult instead of Belle, the nickname Noelle always preferred. She puts a high premium on her appearance, just like her mother, but in a way Noelle struggles to understand: prioritizing elaborate skin care routines and collagen shakes over red lipstick and sun hats. When Noelle dies in a supposed accident, Mirabelle must come home to La Jolla and confront their disconnect. In the process, she finds her way to La Maison de M�duse, the home of the titular Rouge, which offers otherworldly spa treatments to clients in pursuit of their "Most Magnificent Self," and uncovers long-suppressed childhood memories of a man who resembled Hollywood royalty. Awad approaches the increasingly well-trod ground of sinister wellness gurus with aplomb, creating an atmosphere of creeping discomfort and surreality right from the start. There is a lot to skewer about the beauty industry at large, but Awad smartly grounds her critique in the corrosive envy and misunderstandings that spring up between biracial Mirabelle and her white mother. Mirabelle is a singularly unreliable narrator, but readers who stick with her throughout bouts of confusion and peril will be richly rewarded. This is the stuff of fairy tales--red shoes, ballrooms, mirrors, and thorns but also sincerity, poignancy, and terror.

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