{"product_id":"9780349019468","title":"The Stepdaughter","description":"Author: Caroline Blackwood\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9780349019468\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Little Brown\u003cbr\u003eYear first published: 09 Sep 2025\u003cbr\u003ePages: 128 Format: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDiscover Caroline Blackwood's darkly brilliant debut - a perfect rediscovered classic for fans of Shirley Jackson and Ottessa Moshfegh\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A bracingly nasty book . . . Splendid, dark, often very funny' MEGAN NOLAN, \u003ci\u003eTelegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA lavish Upper West Side apartment is the site of a familial cold war about to enter a phase of dangerous escalation.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJ is a lonely woman without the luxury of being alone. Her husband has fled to Paris with his latest flame, leaving J with not only their own four-year-old daughter, Sally Ann, but the sulky, cake-mix addicted, thirteen-year-old Renata, a leftover from his previous marriage. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWriting letters in her head to imaginary friends, J delights in dwelling on the hapless Renata, who 'invites a kind of cruelty'. This is an invitation J fully intends to take up - and like so many stepmothers before her, she will find that wickedness, once indulged, is a difficult habit to kick. A mordant black splinter of a book, Caroline Blackwood's first novel is a testament to her razor-sharp mastery - and mockery - of the darkest depths of human feeling.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'\u003cb\u003eContained and ferocious' \u003ci\u003eTLS\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Punchy . . . a clever and perfectly formed novel' \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'One of the greatest, darkest writers who ever lived' VIRGINIA FEITO\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Witty, observant, clever' \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'The perfect book for people who find Joan Didion too even-keeled, Renata Adler too fair-minded . . . In its own way, it's a perfect novel . . . It deserves to be a cheeky summer hit' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLA REVIEW OF BOOKS\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'Blackwood was in fact a writer of rare distinction, the author of wit-drenched books about the wages of class, women's inhumanity to women, bitchiness, greed, abjection, family, monsters'\u003ci\u003e NEW YORKER\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'Caroline Blackwood sits firmly alongside the greats like Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith. Her writing is smart, economical and as dark as night' ARAMINTA HALL ","brand":"Ships in 10 to 15 days","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67641995853982,"sku":"ADS-9780349019468","price":22.78,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0400\/9043\/5742\/files\/9780349019468.jpg?v=1792557988","url":"https:\/\/classicbargains.com.au\/products\/9780349019468","provider":"Classic Bargains Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}