Bitter Sweet

“The power dynamic between artist and consumer of art blurs in this unsettling account of a young publicist who meets her idol—a much older author. The lines of consent, control, and even reality shift. Like our main character we know this can’t end well—but we also can’t pull away from the impending implosion. This is beautifully crafted, with aftershocks of conscience that will leave you processing for hours with others who’ve read it.”—Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of By Any Other Name

“Bitter Sweet is a quietly devastating debut about desire, grief, and power imbalance.”—Bustle

“Nuanced . . . Readers will be moved.”—Publishers Weekly

“Beautifully written with compassion, hope, and heart . . . Bitter Sweet is a timeless tragedy, a story of the intricacies and illusions of true love, equality, and the heartbreaking disparity between what is shown to us and what we choose to see. It’s a very impressive debut.”—Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of All the Colors of the Dark

“Bitter Sweet is raw and beautiful and true. Hattie Williams writes so honestly on love and loss that it hurts. This book will make you ache for your twenties and make you equally glad you survived them.”—Abigail Dean, New York Times bestselling author of Girl A

“Wondrous . . . This instant classic of a debut—as innocent and enthralling as first love; as wise and (yes) bittersweet as the hangover—recalls the likes of Caitlin Moran and Curtis Sittenfeld, but Hattie’s voice is all her own: honest, winning, breakable. What a defiant novel—you’ll devour and savor it at once, impossibly, and turn the final page having made a friend for life.”—A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

“Williams’s writing on early-twenties friendships and their enmeshed intensity was so convincing. I enjoyed it so much.”—Marian Keyes

“Nuanced . . . Readers will be moved.”—Publishers Weekly