Ruggers: A Novel

Tender, visceral, and beautifully written, Ruggers is an intricate portrait of friendship and love set in the brutal world of collegiate rugby.

Sam is a timid junior at Boston University, happy to slide through her college years unnoticed at the back of lecture halls or hiding out in her studio apartment. She only comes alive on the rugby team, whether sliding through tackles or disappearing to the offhanded hook ups with her best friend and teammate, Gnat.

But when a battered shoulder threatens to keep her out for the season, Sam is forced to question what life might look like off the rugby pitch and navigate a new disconnect between what she wants, what her body is capable of, and the expectations put on her as a veteran player on the team—a schism that only grows when she meets Molly, the President of the Queer Student Union, who makes her feel and consider things she hasn’t before.

Suddenly, Sam finds herself straddling two worlds, struggling to keep them separate, unsure of how to bring them together, and completely unprepared for when they inevitably collide.

Told in two interlocking perspectives: the collective voice of the rugby team and the singular voice of Sam, Ruggers is an exploration of queerness and self-discovery—a powerful ode to the imperfect ways in which we shape ourselves and our communities.