A propulsive, existential mystery.
An elderly widow finds a note in the woods: “Her name was Magda…” But there’s no body. Only the note.
From the brilliantly unsettling mind of Ottessa Moshfegh comes a slow-burn literary mystery about solitude, obsession, and the stories we invent. Quietly haunting. Perfect for foggy afternoons.
$18.00
While on her daily walk through a birch forest with her dog, an elderly widow named Vesta Gul stumbles upon a chilling note: “Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn’t me. Here is her dead body.”
But there is no body. Only the note.
And so begins one of the most quietly unsettling novels in recent memory. From the singular mind of Ottessa Moshfegh — author of the cult-favorite My Year of Rest and Relaxation — comes a haunting meditation on solitude, imagination, and the stories we tell ourselves to feel less alone.
As Vesta becomes obsessed with solving Magda’s “murder,” her investigation spirals into something far stranger. Reality blurs. The forest deepens. And we, the readers, are pulled along for every uneasy step.
Critics have called it “a propulsive, existential mystery” (The New York Times) and “darkly funny and deeply philosophical” (The Guardian). Fans of literary suspense, unreliable narrators, and a slow-burn descent into the uncanny will find plenty to linger over here.
Perfect for:
Curl up with this one on a gray, salty afternoon. Just maybe don’t read it alone in the woods.
A perfect pick from our shelves to yours — nestled here in Perkins Cove, waiting for the right reader to carry it home.
A propulsive, existential mystery.
Darkly funny and deeply philosophical.
Moshfegh is easily the most interesting contemporary American writer on the subject of being alive when being alive feels terrible.
A clever, twisting, slippery novel that finds the prolific author in fine, freaky form.
Moshfegh's tense, droll new novel... reads like a thriller, but it's really an existential mystery.
Riveting... A small masterpiece of mounting dread.
Moshfegh's brilliant new novel is, in part, a meditation on storytelling itself... A captivating literary mystery.
An eerie, hypnotic novel... Moshfegh proves once again that she is a master of voice and tone.
12 Perkins Cove Rd,
Ogunquit, ME 03907
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