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Table of Contents
About The Book
An electric contemporary reimagining of the myth of Persephone and Demeter set over the course of one summer on a lush private island, about addiction and sex, family and independence, and who holds the power in a modern underworld.
Camp counselor Cory Ansel, eighteen and aimless, afraid to face her high-strung single mother in New York, is no longer sure where home is when the father of one of her campers offers an alternative. The CEO of a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company, Rolo Picazo is middle-aged, divorced, magnetic. He is also intoxicated by Cory. When Rolo proffers a childcare job (and an NDA), Cory quiets an internal warning and allows herself to be ferried to his private island. Plied with luxury and opiates manufactured by his company, she continues to tell herself she’s in charge. Her mother, Emer, head of a teetering agricultural NGO, senses otherwise. With her daughter seemingly vanished, Emer crosses land and sea to heed a cry for help she alone is convinced she hears.
Alternating between the two women’s perspectives, Rachel Lyon’s Fruit of the Dead incorporates its mythic inspiration with a light touch and devastating precision. The result is a tale that explores love, control, obliteration, and America’s own late capitalist mythos. Lyon’s reinvention of Persephone and Demeter’s story makes for a haunting and ecstatic novel that vibrates with lush abandon. Readers will not soon forget it.
Camp counselor Cory Ansel, eighteen and aimless, afraid to face her high-strung single mother in New York, is no longer sure where home is when the father of one of her campers offers an alternative. The CEO of a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company, Rolo Picazo is middle-aged, divorced, magnetic. He is also intoxicated by Cory. When Rolo proffers a childcare job (and an NDA), Cory quiets an internal warning and allows herself to be ferried to his private island. Plied with luxury and opiates manufactured by his company, she continues to tell herself she’s in charge. Her mother, Emer, head of a teetering agricultural NGO, senses otherwise. With her daughter seemingly vanished, Emer crosses land and sea to heed a cry for help she alone is convinced she hears.
Alternating between the two women’s perspectives, Rachel Lyon’s Fruit of the Dead incorporates its mythic inspiration with a light touch and devastating precision. The result is a tale that explores love, control, obliteration, and America’s own late capitalist mythos. Lyon’s reinvention of Persephone and Demeter’s story makes for a haunting and ecstatic novel that vibrates with lush abandon. Readers will not soon forget it.
About The Author
Photograph by Pieter M. van Hattem
Rachel Lyon is the author of Fruit of the Dead and Self-Portrait with Boy, a finalist for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. Her short stories have appeared in One Story, The Rumpus, Electric Literature, and other publications. A teacher of creative writing at various institutions, most recently Bennington College, Rachel lives in western Massachusetts with her husband and two young children.
Product Details
- Publisher: Scribner UK (September 3, 2025)
- Length: 320 pages
- ISBN13: 9781398525016
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Raves and Reviews
‘A gripping literary thriller, Fruit of the Dead presents a coming-of-age tale that is so well-observed and intoxicating that the reader will lose track of time, but won't forget how they spent it. Egan and Cline fans: assemble.’
– Caoilinn Hughes, author of The Wild Laughter
‘Ancient Greece meets Succession by way of Emma Cline, Fruit of the Dead is a deliciously dark examination of agency and power, and the savage complexity of the mother-daughter bond.’
– Ruth Gilligan, author of The Butchers
'Mesmerised and profoundly alarmed, I read this in one go; I’ve been haunted by it ever since. I’ve passionately loved Lyon’s writing for years, and Fruit of the Dead further confirms what I’ve long suspected: I want to lunge to read anything she writes.'
– R. O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries
'A mesmerising contemporary reimagining of the Persephone myth, exploring power, desire and responsibility. A dizzying take on an age-old tale of temptation, seduction and enchantment.'
– Madeleine Feeny, The Bookseller
‘Pharma billionaire Hades? Yes please.’
– Lit Hub, Most Anticipated Books of 2024
‘Lyon puts a modern twist on the myth of Persephone and Demeter in this irresistible narrative of a naive teenager and her protective mother… The result is an affecting, engrossing, and resonant tale about lost innocence and the enduring bond between a mother and daughter.’
– Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
'Lyon’s skillful and luscious prose encourages empathy... an affecting novel with touches of the fantastical, weaving explorations of power, youth, wealth, and familial love.'
– Kirkus, Starred Review
‘An unnerving literary thriller... An absorbing exploration of ancient themes like power and temptation.’
– Mail on Sunday
'Superb... refreshing... Lyon twists the tale just enough to needle our conceptions of coercion and desire.'
– New York Times Book Review
'Riveting and lush… a spellbinding account of a young woman’s hunger for freedom, the sordid underbelly of big pharma, and the siren call of addiction.'
– Leslie Jamison
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): Fruit of the Dead Paperback 9781398525016
- Author Photo (jpg): Rachel Lyon Photograph by Pieter M. van Hattem(0.1 MB)
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