At the Edge of the Woods

My debut novel, published by Two Dollar Radio in the US and the UK in June 2023

About

* A “Best Book of 2023” — Independent Book Review
* An American Booksellers Association “Indies Introduce” Pick

Laura lives alone in a cabin deep within the Italian Alps, making her living translating medical documents and tutoring the children of affluent locals. She spends her days climbing the mountains outside her door and exploring the woods, and when she must venture into the small, conservative town for supplies, she’s met with curious stares and wariness. Laura begins seeing a bartender, who alerts her to the villagers’ uncertainties. Then late one night there is a knock on the door, and on the other side stands someone from her past who has finally found her. In beguiling, lyrical prose, the mystery surrounding why Laura has absconded to this remote corner of the Alps comes into focus, while the villagers grow leery of the woman in the cabin and of her increasingly odd behavior. A few decide to take matters into their own hands, to free themselves from the malevolent forces of the strega who lives amongst them.

Praise for At the Edge of the Woods

“This is an exceptional debut; uncanny, unsettling, original and subtle. Gradually, it beckons the reader deeper into both its forests and its mysteries; I was reminded at times of the work of Dolores Redondo's Baztan trilogy, and at others of Robert Seethaler's slender chronicles of remote European mountain communities.”
— Robert Macfarlane

“Extraordinary. What a beautiful, raw and ethereal journey. So much magic and power.”
— Maxine Peake

“A rich and bewitching novel. Kathryn Bromwich has spun up a delicate world that interrogates the dark side of love, the wild power of nature, and the strength it takes to break free.”
— Sarah Rose Etter

“Heady and headlong, Bromwich’s deliciously witchy debut unspools with the force and confidence of a spell, conjuring an indelible portrayal of one woman’s quest for selfhood through solitude.”
— Hermione Hoby

“I savoured this wonderfully intense and enigmatic novel about a woman's retreat into the wilderness. At the Edge of the Woods touches on issues of alienation, illness, womanhood, nature and community, in sensuous prose that delights and disturbs. An offbeat, beguiling debut.”
— Luiza Sauma

“A rare novel: beautifully attuned to both the mysteries of the natural world and of human consciousness, at once cool and intense, suspenseful and surprising. Just when you think you know where Laura’s story is headed the forest path twists, uncovering a world resplendent with ghosts, secrets, and dangerously deep wells of feeling. Bromwich is a thrilling new talent.”
— Laura van den Berg

“A raw, intimate, richly textured and lyrical account of a self-imposed isolation in the Italian Alps. Part-almost fairy tale, part-humane examination of the body, memory, loneliness, relationships and nature – this gorgeous book offers a hypnotically meditative insight into one woman’s compelling psyche.”
— Lara Williams

“Elegant, mysterious, unsettling – Bromwich's storytelling is as assured as it is unpredictable. A stunning achievement.”
— Rhik Samadder

“A delicious, dark unravelling. Bromwich's prose brings us an unnerving and tenacious voice, a remarkable protagonist. In this brilliant novel, the wild is never far away but we have more to fear from so-called civilisation. An exhilarating book that gave me goosebumps. It made me want to take off into the forest!”
— Helen Mort

Reviews

“An accomplished, unsettling debut... At the Edge of the Woods is a novel that invites full immersion on the reader’s part; the reward is a deeply unsettling exploration of what it means to inhabit a female body but to reject femininity, and to feel a connection with the natural world that embodies both awe and terror. In this, its themes could not be more timely.”
— Stephanie Merritt, The Guardian, Book of the Day

“Why don’t you measure your capacity for quiet determination against that of the main character in this tale of suspense set in a cabin in the Italian Alps?”
— Molly Young, in the New York Times

“Another banger from Two Dollar Radio. A woman on the lam in the Italian Alps, laudanum, wolves, suspense… This one had me at ‘buongiorno’!”
— Molly Young, on Instagram

“In this mesmerizing novel, a woman moves to a cabin in the woods, on a mountain at the edge of a town filled with people who regard her with increasing suspicion... Much of the book is concerned with Laura’s immediate experiences of the landscape, which creates a lulling effect, but as in the wilderness, one cannot let themselves become unwary; the beautiful descriptions are soon punctuated by a sharp sense of menace as Laura’s reality begins to deteriorate. This is an unsettling fever dream of a book that I will be thinking about for a long time.”
— LitHub

“Kathryn Bromwich has spun magic with her debut novel At the Edge of the Woods, a compelling story of a woman who opts to abscond traditional life and move into a cabin in the forests of northern Italy. As leering locals question why she’s there without a man to look after her... she falls into a carnal, stunning relationship with a local waiter, he too alienated by the town. Impactful and transportive stuff.”
— i-D

“In this richly evocative debut, a woman has retreated from society to live alone in a cabin in the mountains of northern Italy... A spellbinding story of illness, infertility, the natural world and femininity.”
— The i

“Following a woman living alone in a cabin in the woods, At the Edge of the Woods is built on slow-burn tension and psychological unraveling à la Shirley Jackson meets Strega Nonna in the Italian Alps, and is meant to be slurped and gargled like saltwater.”
— NYLON

“Haunting, gorgeously descriptive, and spellbinding, Kathryn Bromwich has written an incredible gothic debut.”
— Chicago Review of Books, full review here

“A fever dream of a novel with a hothouse atmosphere that’s cranked high, At the Edge of the Woods stands out for authorial bravado. The slim volume might bring to mind stylish literary classics, from Wide Sargasso Sea and Heart of Darkness to Wuthering Heights and Rebecca, but first time UK novelist Kathryn Bromwich serves a delectable if bizarre wilderness tale that’s wholly her creation.”
— Toronto Star

“I will be adding At the Edge of the Woods to my pile of beguiling peasant novels that have nature as an active presence (between Tokarczuk’s Drive Your Plough Over the Bones of the Dead and Solà’s When I Sing the Mountains Dance)... It is a fascinating thought experiment on how superstition can bring about its own demons – and how rejections of femininity can ignite a hysteria.”
— Caught by the River

“At the Edge of the Woods, a startling new novel by Guardian writer Kathryn Bromwich. Bromwich’s debut – which opens with a Nan Shepherd quote in its epigraph – is a crisp, enigmatic read. The novel is a wonder to take in, in large part due to how Bromwich imbues the narrative with a Shepherd-inspired philosophy on the spellbinding influence of nature and the healing properties of humbly submitting yourself to the wild.”
— Cleveland Review of Books

“In this haunting debut, a woman running from her past tries to find solitude and independence in the woods. Bromwich’s pacing works brilliantly; languid and slow as we meet Laura a few months into her time in the cabin, before becoming increasingly disjointed and rapid to match her deteriorating mental state… A gripping, richly layered story of a woman’s unraveling as she grapples with threats both past and present.”
— Kirkus

“This book is an absolute stunner. Set in the Italian Alps, we find a woman living alone in a cabin in the woods. Bromwich follows her life with beautiful writing that pairs well with the stark and unsettling plot that unfolds.”
— Debutiful

“Through lust and sinuous prose, the novel similarly puts readers under its own spell. It demands that you reach out to others, no matter how isolated they are, and insist that they read what is sure to be an instant classic.”
— Bust Magazine

“A very good look at how people become ostracised, and the terms that communities treat them under. Specifically, this is a look at how women become social outsiders, and how, when they don’t act in certain capacities (as part of a family unit, for example, or being open when called upon to speak) they are rejected. On a more positive note, this is also a very good ode to how living in close connection to nature and as a single person is a very enriching experience. There are elements of eco-Gothic in this which I also really enjoyed.”
— Jess White Reads Books

“The natural world is captured in gorgeous description... If you read this book, you’ll feel the underlying fear for a woman alone in the woods just as you’ll admire her constant ability to overcome it.”
— Independent Book Review, The Best Books We Read in 2023

“This is a prose poem of a novel. This young writer has a talent for observation and an equally rare talent for choosing the exact details, and she has written a superb first novel that will stick in your mind long after you have read the last page.”
— The Arts Fuse