MARY GAITSKILL Two Girls, Fat and Thin Justine Shade - child terrorist, adolescent sex bomb and lonely adult - is slim and pretty; she comes from a successful family and writes freelance for a trendy newspaper. Dorothy is an obese proofreader from a disturbed family, who has ‘not had a conversation in years.’ She is obsessed with her past, her father, and the mysterious cult figure Anna Granite; when Justine comes to interview her for an article on Granite, her fixation turns on Justine. These two women, superficially a study of contrasts, are powerfully drawn to one another and, as their relationship develops, they reveal what lies beneath the surface of their suburban childhoods: the violent power games played by parents and children alike, the painful tension between intimacy and isolation, denial and fulfilment, the betrayal of love and innocence. Two Girls, Fat and Thin is about the terrible consequences of this betrayal for both betrayer and betrayed. It is also about redemption and great courage. The highly acclaimed author of Bad Behavior has written a daring, intensely emotional first novel that lays bare the female psyche in language that is both poetic and brutally disruptive. Ugly, beautiful yet perversely erotic, uncompromising yet hypnotically readable, this is a powerful and unforgettable book. MARY GAITSKILL Mary Gaitskill is the author of Bad Behavior, a collection of short stories. She lives in California and New York. Critical acclaim for Mary Gaitskill: ‘Gaitskill writes with a razor-sharp brilliance which cuts through our pieties to the raw nerves’ - D M Thomas ‘Stubbornly original, with the sort of rhythm and fine moments that flatten you when you don’t expect it - a pleasure to read’ - Alice Munro ‘Wise beyond her years, utterly unsentimental, Gaitskill is glorious’ - New York Times Photograph of author: Virginia Liberatore

Gaitskill Mary

Two Girls, Fat and Thin