Berlin

A New York Times Editor’s Choice

“Cinematic and confessional—electric.” —The New York Times

“Written in funny, punchy vignettes perfect for consumption between U-Bahn stops, and a few hours in the presence of Daphne Ferber pay generous spiritual dividends.” —The Washington Post

“A compelling, raw, and thrillingly strange outsider tale of loneliness and deception. Setton is a wonderful writer who, with this sharp debut, adds to the great canon of contemporary anti-heroines.” —Mona Awad, author of Bunny

A wickedly insightful, darkly funny novel in which a young woman in the grip of an existential malaise moves to a new city for a fresh start but her attempt at reinvention doesn’t quite go to plan

When Daphne arrives in Berlin, the last thing she expects is to run into more drama than she left behind. Of course, she knew she'd need to do the usual: make friends, acquire lovers, grapple with German and a whole new way of life. She even expected the long nights gorging alone on family-sized jars of Nutella, and the pitfalls of online dating in another language. The paranoia, the second-guessing of her every choice, the covert behaviors? Probably come with the territory.

But one night, when Daphne is alone in her apartment, something strange, unnerving and entirely unexpected intervenes, and life in bohemian Kreuzberg suddenly doesn't seem so cool. Just how much trouble is Daphne in, and who – or what – is out to get her?

Channelling the modern female experience with razor-sharp observation and a trenchant wit, Berlin announces Bea Setton as an electrifying new voice for her generation.

Bea Setton was born in France and spent her early years in the Parisian suburbs before moving to the US to study philosophy. Upon graduating, she relocated to Berlin, and the city became the inspiration for this novel. She currently divides her time between London and Cambridge, where she is studying for a PhD and working on her second book.