The Men

"This is a quite extraordinary book. The stripped-down language matches the raw, openness of the unflinchingly honest narrative. A naked tale of urban human connections, told darkly, with both cool detachment and warm wit. You're drawn into the twisted spell of the wonderfully wild parties, recognising scenes we've all seen played out (in our naughtiest dreams?!), and catching glimpses of one's own behaviour in the complex but compelling characters that stalk off the page and into your imagination. It is a liberating, sometimes challenging, but deliciously evocative read, crafted with great passion and aplomb. An assertive debut and arguably essential reading for the feminist hedonist in your life..." see Amazon review below

City life. Anonymous, intense, paradoxical and sometimes lonely. A young, haunted woman, in an unnamed but instantly recognisable city, falls in love with a singer. She finds she has been consumed by the relationship and, when it ends, as it inevitably does - she feels unable to quite rediscover herself. What can she do?

But city living has a habit of drawing you into even darker places, and she embarks on a series of intense relationships with thirteen men of very different types, from a rough sleeper to a millionaire, and from a transvestite to a leading politician. The men start to propel her through a series of extraordinary adventures and wild parties. But once she has started, she finds she begins to lose her own identity. Is there a way out of the cycle?

A darkly brilliant debut novel by Fanny Calder.