{"product_id":"we-can-only-save-ourselves-a-novel-isbn-9780063048171","title":"We Can Only Save Ourselves: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Alison Wisdom's addictive, down-the-rabbit-hole debut reads like \u003cem\u003eThe Girls\u003c\/em\u003e by way of \u003cem\u003eThe Virgin Suicides\u003c\/em\u003e, with an extra dash of Cheever's unsettling suburbia. The result is sinister and surprising: a novel I couldn't put down, and one that I kept thinking about long after I'd reached its unexpected, chilling end.\" —Emily Temple, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Lightness\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOne of \u003cem\u003eNewsweek,\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e Bustle, and LitHub's Most Anticipated Books and \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGoodreads' \"Debut Novels to Discover in 2021,\" \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eWe Can Only Save Ourselves\u003c\/em\u003e is the story of one\u003cbr\u003eteenage girl’s unlikely indoctrination and the reverberations in the tight-knit\u003cbr\u003ecommunity she leaves behind.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlice Lange’s neighbors are proud to know her—a high-achieving\u003cbr\u003estudent, cheerleader, and all-around good citizen, she’s a perfect emblem of\u003cbr\u003etheir sunny neighborhood. The night before she’s expected to\u003cbr\u003ebe crowned Homecoming Queen, though, she commits an act of vandalism, then\u003cbr\u003edisappears, following a magnetic stranger named Wesley to a bungalow in another\u003cbr\u003epart of the state. There, he promises, Alice can be her true self, shedding the\u003cbr\u003eshackles of conformity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the bungalow, however, she learns\u003cbr\u003ethat four other young women seeking enlightenment and adventure have already\u003cbr\u003efollowed him there. Her new lifestyle is intoxicating at first, but as Wesley’s\u003cbr\u003edemands on all of them increase, the house becomes a pressure cooker—until one\u003cbr\u003eday they reach the point of no return.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBack home, the story of Alice’s\u003cbr\u003edisappearance and radicalization is framed by the first-person plural chorus of\u003cbr\u003ethe mothers who knew her before, who worry about her, but also resent the tear\u003cbr\u003eshe made in the fabric of their perfect world, one that exposes the question: Isn’t\u003cbr\u003esuburbia a kind of cult unto itself?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eCombining the sharp social\u003cbr\u003ecritique of Celeste Ng’s \u003cem\u003eLittle Fires Everywhere \u003c\/em\u003ewith the elegiac beauty\u003cbr\u003eof Emma Cline’s \u003cem\u003eThe Girls\u003c\/em\u003e, this is a fierce literary debut from a writer\u003cbr\u003eto watch.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e\"Alison Wisdom’s clear-eyed debut lulls you into a tenuous comfort, only to jump out when least expected. The collective narration flawlessly juggles youthful idealism and hardened maturity, marking the decisions women make—both deliberate and coerced—and their struggle to break free from societies determined to stifle their freedom to choose. Insidiously haunting, subtly clever, and impossible to put down.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJulia Fine, author of What Should be Wild\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A haunting, beautifully written story of a girl falling into darkness. Alison Wisdom renders a fascinating portrayal of the subtle shifts in tension, power, and affection among the young women who follow a Manson-esque cult leader. With the propulsion of a page-turner and the detail of a psychological study, \u003cem\u003eWe Can Only Save Ourselves\u003c\/em\u003e is a stark and captivating novel. \" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJennie Melamed, author of Gather the Daughters\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Alison Wisdom's addictive, down-the-rabbit-hole debut reads like \u003cem\u003eThe Girls\u003c\/em\u003e by way of \u003cem\u003eThe Virgin Suicides\u003c\/em\u003e, with an extra dash of Cheever's unsettling suburbia. The result is sinister and surprising: a novel I couldn't put down, and one that I kept thinking about long after I'd reached its unexpected, chilling end.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEmily Temple, author of The Lightness\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Beautiful and wry, \u003cem\u003eWe Can Only Save Ourselves\u003c\/em\u003e is the story of a teenager who breaks free from the confines of her suburban home to try to find a more authentic way of living. I wanted to look away as the novel spun toward an ominous conclusion, but I couldn’t stop reading. A haunting and immersive debut with echoes of Tom Perrotta’s \u003cem\u003eLittle Children\u003c\/em\u003e and Jeffrey Eugenides' \u003cem\u003eThe Virgin Suicides\u003c\/em\u003e.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKate Hope Day, author of If, Then and In the Quick\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This is a melancholy, dreamlike book about group dynamics, power, growing up, and the choices people can't take back. Alison Wisdom gives her haunting story a quiet but inexorable forward momentum—like that of adolescence itself.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLydia Kiesling, author of Golden State\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"In this tense, complicated novel, the loss of a daughter is observed through the singular, haunting voice of the town’s mothers as they wage a daily battle for safety under the guise of conformity and belonging. What is the cost of leaving, and what is the cost of staying? There are no easy answers in this thrilling debut novel by Texas writer Alison Wisdom, whose taut, steely prose reveals new complexities, questions, and dangers with each turn of the page.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eElizabeth Wetmore, New York Times bestselling author of Valentine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"In her beguiling debut, Alison Wisdom exposes the menace concealed just beneath the surface of the ordinary. When Alice Lange falls off the map, abandoning her status as a beloved it-girl in her suburban enclave to pursue a mysterious stranger, I fell right with her. A story of mothers and daughters, the competing allures of safety and danger, and the volatility of early adulthood, this is a spellbinding novel that followed me into my days.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlexis Schaitkin, author of Saint X\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A dreamy debut. . . . Propulsive and haunting. . . . Wisdom hits each note with perfect precision.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A unique and haunting debut that smolders like the embers of an unattended fire.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNewsweek, \"2021's Most Highly Anticipated New Books\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Captivating.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Eerie and powerful. . . . the hypnotic storytelling and exploration of Alice’s character—and the character of Alice’s entire town—will draw readers in.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44889399492837,"sku":"NP9780063048171","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780063048171.jpg?v=1730231168","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/we-can-only-save-ourselves-a-novel-isbn-9780063048171","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}