Gloss

Drawing on Greek mythology, Kyra Wilder’s anticipated second novel is a psychological thriller with feminist bite.

In rural California, apple farmer and passionate cook Lee runs an alternative therapy programme for anorexic girls. Gloss describes Lee’s seemingly benevolent methods and the long-term effects of conditioning and mind control on his young charges. As the story reaches its surreal climax, the girls discover both the negligence of the US criminal justice system and the cathartic delights of personal revenge.

Ari, Eleni and Hesper, three young women struggling with an unnamed eating disorder, meet one summer at Golden Apples Farm, an alternative treatment facility run by the charismatic Lee. A year later, they reunite to testify at his trial.

Gloss transposes the Greek myth of the Hesperides to Marin County, California at the turn of the millennium. Wilder elaborates a kaleidoscopic picture of trauma through a series of short chapters which alternate between the protagonists’ perspectives, uncovering new possibilities for all that a girl is and may become.