Short Synopsis
A fresh, honest, and darkly funny debut collection about family, friends, and lovers, and the flaws that make us most human.

Full Synopsis
Fearless, candid, and incredibly funny, Lauren Holmes is a newcomer who writes like a master. She tackles eros and intimacy with a deceptively light touch, a keen awareness of how their nervous systems tangle and sometimes short-circuit, and a genius for revealing our most vulnerable, spirited selves.

In "Desert Hearts," a woman takes a job selling sex toys in San Francisco rather than embark on the law career she pursued only for the sake of her father. In "Pearl and the Swiss Guy Fall in Love," a woman realizes she much prefers the company of her pit bull—and herself—to the neurotic foreign fling who won't decamp from her apartment. In "How Am I Supposed to Talk to You?" a daughter hauls a suitcase of lingerie to Mexico for her flighty, estranged mother to resell there, wondering whether her personal mission—to come out—is worth the same effort. And in "Barbara the Slut," a young woman with an autistic brother, a Princeton acceptance letter, and a love of sex navigates her high school's toxic, slut-shaming culture with open eyes.

With heart, sass, and pitch-perfect characters, Barbara the Slut is a head-turning debut from a writer with a limitless career before her.

"A first-rate first collection from a young writer you'll want to hear more from." ---Kirkus Starred Review

"Holmes writes with ease and humor." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"Holmes' 10 tales smartly explore her characters' varied internalizations and vulnerabilities in light of the heavy influence of appearances and unwise attachments." ---Booklist

"The scope of the subject matter is ambitious." ---The New York Times Sunday Book Review

Bestseller

Kirkus Review

Publishers Weekly Review