At the Edge of the Woods

“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

“Bromwich writes stylishly propulsive prose, creating irresistible momentum in a novel whose plot is tangled and exploratory. By its end, At the Edge of the Woods is a portrait of both a profoundly liberated woman and a woman in danger. It is a knife-sharp, haunting novel, a testament in both its content and its origins to what both imagination and meditation can do.”
—Lily Meyer, AIR MAIL

“Bromwich brings a dash of menace and blurs the line between what is real and unreal, what is imagined and what is there. At the Edge of the Woods is a trip; surreal and compelling, subverting the expectation of narrative, of character and of escaping to the woods. Bromwich’s writing is inspired, with the polished tension of Shirley Jackson, and the prose of Ali Smith or Tove Jansson. She is capable of dazzling beauty amongst a claustrophobic atmosphere.”
—Kelsey Ward, Oban Times

“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.”
—Emily Temple, LitHub

“Bromwich’s prose is sedately paced, erudite, and textured in its observations of nature. Laura has a sly sense of humor and a deep distrust of humankind. As her story advances, her relationship to reality shifts and slides… At the Edge of the Woods is wise, ethereal, haunting, filled with both beauty and horror. Brief but thoughtful, lush in its descriptions, this is a novel of introspection.”
—Julia Kastner, Shelf Awareness

“This might be the best novel I read at the beach this year. It certainly moved me in a way that I wasn’t expecting… It’s a novel about the aftermath of trauma; a woman turning to the natural world for solace and healing. It reminds me of other novels where nature plays one of the main characters and human beings become just one more piece of the untamed world, not the determiner of it. That said, humans with their prejudices, superstitions, and intolerance can interfere and undermine that consoling presence and carry violence and disruption into a carefully crafted safe space. Lyrical writing takes a quiet but determined look at issues of wildness, feminity, class, fertility, patriarchy, and illness.”
—Gayle Shanks, Changing Hands Bookstore (Tempe, AZ)

“Never have I ever come across a book that’s truly as satisfying to read as this little book about a woman living in obscurity set on the outskirts of the Italian Alps. It’s intriguing, mysterious, and contemplative. Not to mention that Bromwich’s prose is unbelievably visceral. You will be hard pressed to find a book that satisfies like this.”
—Thu Doan, East Bay Booksellers (Oakland, CA)

“Earthy, sensuous, and feminist. Through extraordinary nature writing, Bromwich addresses fertility, culture, class, illness, and community. Tense and witchy, this is a story of one woman who lives on her own terms. Glorious.”
—Beth Shapiro, Skylark Bookshop, Columbia, MO

“Laura secrets away in a spare remote cabin in an attempt to create a life of her own choosing and free herself of societal expectations. She finds comfort in nature, spending hours each day hiking farther and farther through field and forest. An exploration of how a woman disappears—figuratively and literally—after escaping an abusive, untenable situation.”
—Alana Haley, Schuler’s Books (Grand Rapids, MI)

“Intense and hazy, At the Edge of the Woods is a feverishly captivating combination of nature writing and character study. As Laura becomes increasingly connected to the woods around her, the reader can’t help but to be drawn into her orbit, to see things the way that she does.”
—Mallory Melton, BookPeople, Austin, TX

“An engrossing tale that exposes how easily solitude can become isolation and the dangers therein, how the things we need can often be our ruin. A kissing cousin of Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing, Bromwich’s debut is confident, atmospheric, and mesmerizing.”
—Wesley Minter, Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, WA

“At the Edge of the Woods is a haunting debut, full of the wonder of nature, the confidence to choose one’s path, and the uncertainty of what comes next. Bromwich builds the tension perfectly in this story, and you’ll find yourself enchanted by Laura’s journey of self-reflection against the rugged beauty of the Swiss Alps.”
—Beth Seufer Buss, Bookmarks, Winston-Salem, NC