The Mars Room

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A fearless and heartbreaking novel about love, friendship and incarceration, from the author of the internationally acclaimed The Flamethrowers.

‘Astounding… this year’s must-read’ ANNE ENRIGHT

Romy Hall is starting two consecutive life sentences at Stanville Women’s Correctional Facility. Her crime? The killing of her stalker.

Inside awaits a world where women must hustle and fight for the bare essentials. Outside: the San Francisco of her youth. The Mars Room strip club where she was once a dancer. Her seven-year-old son, Jackson.

As Romy forms friendships over liquor brewed in socks and stories shared through sewage pipes her future seems to unfurl in one long, unwavering line – until news from beyond the prison bars forces Romy to try and outrun her destiny.

‘Breathtaking’ VOGUE

‘One of our most outstanding modern writers’ STYLIST

‘Gritty, empathetic, finely rendered’ MARGARET ATWOOD (on Twitter)