Femme Feral

“Witty, thrilling, and...SAVAGE." --Nat Cassidy, bestselling author of Mary and When the Wolf Comes Home

"Miranda July meets Stephen King." --Lauren Beukes, New York Times bestselling author of The Shining Girls

Hyper-competent Ellie thinks she’s going through perimenopause, but discovers she’s actually turning into a werewolf in this feminist, dark-comedy debut

The head of a company she started from the ground-up, the worried mother of a troublingly secretive daughter, and the wife of an easy-going man who always has her picking up the slack—Ellie is already juggling too much. So, it's an inconvenient time to find herself beset by strange physical changes: hair sprouting in new places, running hot, trouble sleeping, losing time, finding bloodstains in all her clothing. And underneath it all, a boiling rage that threatens to disrupt the life she's worked so hard to build.

Her doctor diagnoses perimenopause. But it's another twenty-eight-day cycle that's taking hold, one that involves fur, teeth, and a not-insignificant amount of howling at the moon—and that gifts Ellie incredible strength and speed. Her new power's thrilling, as is releasing the anger she’s suppressed for years—especially as it turns out that there are some problems that can be solved with violence: The terrible new hire who is sabotaging her careful plans. The creep who's stalking her daughter. Only, the beast within isn't easy to control, and its bloody trail is getting harder to hide. With an obsessive hunter on her trail and a growing fear of what she's becoming, Ellie must find a way to yoke her fury before she tears through the people she loves.

A deeply gratifying, highly addictive and provocative read, Femme Feral is an exhilarating expression of feminine rage, with a warning: If you swallow your anger, it's sure to come back with a bite."A darkly entertaining feminist satire...This tale of women’s rage against societal marginalization builds to a satisfying and bloody end, with Beckbessinger using the tropes of werewolf horror to provide her tough-as-nails heroines with a sense of power, retribution, and gratification. This has bite." --Publishers Weekly

“Witty, thrilling, and oh so righteously SAVAGE. Sam Beckbessinger’s command of voice and character is superb. Make a to-do list and be sure to put this book at the top of it.”--
Nat Cassidy, USA Today bestselling author of When the Wolf Comes Home and Mary

"A savage, witty, gory, heartfelt, utterly relatable rage fantasy and a helluva good time. Miranda July meets Stephen King." –Lauren Beukes, New York Times bestselling author of The Shining Girls

“Bitingly funny, sharply observed, simmering with justified rage and buried wildness - a cathartic, necessary read.” –Catriona Silvey, author of Love and Other Paradoxes

"An ambitious tale of perimenopause—and lycanthropy—and the ways major life changes, both expected and folkloric, open up paths that were previously inconceivable. Femme Feral conceit will appeal to...readers who want their escapism to have consequences." --Booklist

"A fun and fierce look at womanhood and all the ways we hold back our rage. I laughed, cried and felt vindicated. Superb.” –Shubnum Khan, national bestselling author of The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years




Sam Beckbessinger teaches creative writing at Bath Spa University, writes kids' TV and picture books, and once wrote for Marvel. She grew up on a farm near Durban, South Africa, but now lives in London.