The Little Clan - Softcover

Cohen, Iris Martin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0778369064 ISBN 13: 9780778369066

Publisher: Park Row, 2019

Synopsis

Ava Gallanter is the librarian in residence at the Lazarus Club, an ancient, dwindling Manhattan arts club full of eccentric elderly residents stuck in a long-gone era. Twenty-five-year-old Ava, however, feels right at home, quietly surrounded by her beloved books and sequestered away from her peers.

When Ava’s enigmatic friend Stephanie returns to town on the hunt for fame and fortune, she promises to make Ava’s dream of becoming a writer come true. Together they start a literary salon at the Lazarus Club. However, Ava’s romanticized idea of the salon quickly erodes as Stephanie’s aspirations take the women in an unexpected—and precarious—direction.

In this humorous yet keenly observant coming-of-age story, Cohen brings us into a boisterous literary world. With eloquent prose and affecting storytelling, The Little Clan is both a wickedly fun yet sharply insightful look at friendship, feminism and finding yourself in your twenties.

About this title

About the Author

Iris Martin Cohen grew up in the French Quarter of New Orleans. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and studied Creative Nonfiction at the Graduate Center, CUNY. She currently lives in Brooklyn. The Little Clan is her first novel.

Review

"The Little Clan is a delicious read-beautifully written and observed, with a delightful sense of humor and all the giddy absurdity of new adulthood." -Eleanor Brown, New York Times bestselling author of The Weird Sisters and The Light of Paris

"It Girls meet Lit Girls in this delectably written tale of two young women determined to lay claim to bookish Manhattan, fire codes, overdrawn bank accounts, and illegal leases be damned." -Courtney Maum, author of I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You and Touch

"This smart, witty first novel will delight readers who enjoy quirky coming-of-age stories with a dash of highbrow humor." -Booklist, starred review

"A brilliant newcomer whose prose races through the page but then knows exactly when to catch its breath to produce Jamesian inflections of unparalleled beauty. Iris Cohen is not only a talented writer; she is an artist. And the giveaway sign of every artist is to make both aspiring and established writers secretly envious."-Andre Aciman, New York Times bestselling author of Enigma Variations and Call Me by Your Name

"This charming story is a hilarious and witty study of friendships, youth, and literary obsessions."-Buzzfeed

"Readers will hungrily turn every page."-St. Louis Dispatch

"[D]elightful ... A charming tale sure to delight book lovers." -Kirkus Reviews

"Witty, warm, and (sometimes uncomfortably) honest, The Little Clan is a tender look at life in your twenties, when you've got big ambitions and not much else. Iris Martin Cohen conjures a magical, mythical New York populated by bibliophiles and billionaires, where anything seems possible."-Rumaan Alam, author of Rich and Pretty

"In The Little Clan, Cohen delightfully draws the intoxicating tribulations of coming-of-age in New York City. Her debut is a heartbreaking, and often hilarious, tale of female friendship." -Hannah Lillith Assadi, author of Sonora

"Bibliophiles will devour this love letter to literature."-HelloGiggles

"Cohen's charming debut sparkles with humor, heart, and an irresistibly irreverent love of books and bibliophiles... vibrant [and] engaging."-Publishers Weekly

"The Little Clan is a glittering little wonder. By turns gorgeously lyrical, laugh-aloud funny and almost breathtakingly astute, it's a tongue-in-cheek love letter to old books and youthful imprudence that delights to the very last word. " -Jennifer Cody Epstein, New York Times bestselling author of The Gods of Heavenly Punishment

"Iris Martin Cohen's The Little Clan nails 21st-century New York: the antic collision of old and new money, old and new art, old and new pretensions. Funny and sharp-eyed and just as fond as it is satiric."-Jonathan Dee, author of The Locals and A Thousand Pardons

"Bookish girls, you have a new heroine in Ava Galante, the charming star of this beyond-charming debut. Equal parts social satire and comedy of manners, The Little Clan had me nodding in recognition and laughing out loud at the New York types and tropes perfectly captured by Iris Martin Cohen, a writer clearly at the start of a brilliant career." -Joanna Rakoff, author of My Salinger Year

"Beautifully and intelligently written, The Little Clan explores what it is to try to make art as a woman, what it is to love, and what it is to want. It's about the seductions of reading and of other people and about what is left when life turns out other than we thought. –Lynn Strong, author of Hold Still

"The Little Clan is both a charmer and a creeping heartbreaker. It draws you in with a comedic tale of manners and society in New York, but makes its way to your gut with a searing narrative of modern femininity-a story of grave importance, told exquisitely here. The journey of Ava and Stephanie veers from lightness to darkness, with grace and humor and heart. Iris Martin Cohen has written a treasure." -Kayla Rae Whitaker, author of The Animators

"Like an Edith Wharton in the East Village, Iris Cohen mines the ambitions and desires of young women seeking to find a place in elite social circles. The Little Clan is a charming, captivating read, but it's also a witty, fiercely intelligent look at the the ways women are lost and saved by dangerous friendships and literary obsessions." -Rebecca Godfrey, author of Under the Bridge and The Torn Skirt.

"At last, an heir to Laurie Colwin! Cohen's debut charts the vicissitudes of her young heroine Ava Gallanter's literary life in New York with warmth, humor, and grace." – Caitlin Macy, author of Mrs. and The Fundamentals of Play

"For anyone who's ever favored tea over coffee as more authentically literary; or had a crush on a fictional character and/or a dead author; or wished that silk stockings and garters would make a comeback despite their massive inconvenience; or written with a quill pen because dammit, that's how Keats did it-The Little Clan is at long last here for you, celebrating your predilections with lush exuberance and a gorgeously sly sense of humor." -Emily Barton, author of Brookland and The Book of Esther

"This debut novel is stunning; every sentence is a tiny masterpiece. The details of Ava's world are immaculately rendered, and her misadventures are bold, cringe-inducing, and irresistible all at the same time. Reading this book makes me wish I could've passed some of my misspent youth at the House of Mirth."-Natalka Burian, author of Welcome to the Slipstream

"Bookish girls, you have a new heroine in Ava Galante, the charming star of this beyond-charming debut. Equal parts social satire and comedy of manners, The Little Clan had me nodding in recognition and laughing out loud at the New York types and tropes perfectly captured by Iris Martin Cohen, a writer clearly at the start of a brilliant career." –Joanna Rakoff, bestselling author of A Fortunate Age

"Like an Edith Wharton in the East Village, Iris Cohen mines the ambitions and desires of young women seeking to find a place in elite social circles. The Little Clan is a charming, captivating read, but it's also a witty, fiercely intelligent look at the ways women are lost and saved by dangerous friendships and literary obsessions." –Rebecca Godfrey, author of Under the Bridge and The Torn Skirt.

About this edition

• Publisher: Park Row
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0778369064
• ISBN 13: 9780778369066
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352