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About The Book

An “enchanting” (Caroline Kepnes, author of You) “fairy-tale-inflected thriller” (The New Yorker) about two sisters who encounter a captivating yet possibly dangerous underworld cult that challenges their perception of reality.

A New Yorker Best Book of 2024

Rose has come a long way. Raised—and often neglected—by a wayward mother in New York City’s chaotic bohemia, she has finally built the life she’s always wanted: a good job at a self-help startup, a clean apartment, an engagement to a stable if self-satisfied tech CEO who shares her faith in human potential, hard work, and the sacrifice of childish dreams.

Rose’s sister Cecilia, on the other hand, never grew up. Irresponsible and impetuous, prone to jetting off to a European monastery one month and a falcon rescue the next, Cecilia has spent her life in pursuit of fairy-tale narratives of transcendence and true love—grand ideas Rose knows never work out in the real world. When Cecilia declares she’s come home to New York for good, following the ending of a whirlwind marriage, Rose hopes Cecilia might find a way to be ready to face adulthood: compromises and all.

But then Cecilia gets involved with the Avalon: a cabaret troupe—one that appears only at night on a boat that travels New York’s waterways—and soon vanishes. The only way Rose can find Cecilia is by tracking down Avalon herself.

But as Rose gets closer to solving the mystery of what happened to her sister, the Avalon works its magic on her, too. And the deeper she goes into the Avalon’s underworld, the more she begins to question everything she knows about her own life, and whether she’s willing to leave the real world behind.

About The Author

Rose Callahan
Tara Isabella Burton

Tara Isabella Burton is the author of the novels Here in Avalon, The World Cannot Give, and Social Creature, which was named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, Vulture, and The Guardian. She is also the author of the nonfiction books Strange Rites and Self-Made. She has written on religion, culture, and place for The New York Times, National Geographic, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and more. She received a doctorate in theology from Trinity College, Oxford.

About The Reader

Devon Sorvari

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (January 2, 2024)
  • Runtime: 11 hours and 2 minutes
  • ISBN13: 9781797167558

Raves and Reviews

"Devon Sorvari narrates this urban fairy tale well, tapping into the otherworldly atmosphere while giving the sisters and the many members of the Avalon their own personalities."

– Elyssa Everling, Library Journal

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