“Emily Temple has woven a darkly funny, luminously drawn mystery that hits bullseye after bullseye of language and emotion. The Lightness is a book I didn't know I needed and now can't stop thinking about: swift, surprising, and utterly captivating.” - Téa Obreht, New York Times bestselling author of Inland and The Tiger’s Wife
“Very funny . . . She’s a gifted writer and storyteller with an unwavering command of her plot.” - Washington Post
“An elegant and entertaining debut novel. A mystery disguised as a coming-of-age story . . . This is one of those books that breaks your heart when it’s over.” - Philadelphia Inquirer
“A glistening, emotionally charged portrait of a girl growing up.” - Marie Claire, The 12 Best New Books to Read This Summer
"A nimble and intelligent coming-of-age story, distinguished by a setting that offers extraordinary pleasures, and sumptuous prose. The Lightness is part thriller, part fairytale, in the tradition of writers like Emily St. John Mandel and Lydia Millet.” - Kelly Link, award-winning author of Get in Trouble
“Four troubled adolescent girls attempt to unlock the secrets of levitation at a “Buddhist Boot Camp for Bad Girls” in this provocative exploration of girlhood in all its danger, shame and power.” - USA Today, 5 Books Not to Miss
“It’s a teen thriller in the vein of the ‘90s horror movie The Craft . . . But it’s also a beautiful meditation on meditation, with readings of sacred texts and light Buddhist history, populated with girls who refuse to act the way they’re expected to; who have too much passion, too many feelings and nowhere to put them; who are on the cusp of adulthood . . . The book—frequently hilarious, and thoughtful throughout—also transcends expectations at its end.” - The New York Times Book Review
“Temple is an excellent writer . . . a rich meditation on the nature of desire and belonging.” - Los Angeles Times
“Emily Temple’s debut The Lightness grants us a bold, smart, hilarious new voice. She tells a page-turning story that’s also a detective story—psychologically wise and totally wiseassed, all while being both cynical and spiritual. A classic must read!” - Mary Karr, New York Times bestselling author of Lit
"Who can resist a novel about a Buddhist Boot Camp for Bad Girls? This debut is funny, whip-smart and transcendently wise about friendship, family, lust and love." - Jenny Offill, New York Times bestselling author of Weather and Dept. of Speculation
“Temple’s debut is suspenseful and stylish, opening with one mysterious death and an even more mysterious disappearance, taking on the nature of religious belief and female embodiment, doing it all with wit and intelligence.” - The Boston Globe, What to Read Now
“Cool, dark, and pretty as a clear night sky, The Lightness delivers a coming-of-age suspense tale that starts out familiar—ominous warnings, unreliable narration—before forging its own path.” - Entertainment Weekly
“For fans of Sweetbitter and The Girls, Emily Temple’s debut glitters with poignant observations about desire and womanhood.” - Marie Claire, What We’re Reading
“Emily Temple’s sentences are extraordinary: musical, bristling with animal intelligence, feline in their tensed sinuosity, their lack of the usual loyalties, their readiness to pounce. This remarkable novel is made up of equal parts desire and dread; it constantly surprised me, eerily outpacing my expectations. The Lightness is a glorious debut.” - Garth Greenwell, award-winning author of What Belongs to You
“With dark, stylish prose and a group of teenage girls up to no good, The Lightness could be the love child of Donna Tartt and Tana French, but its savage, glittering magic is all Emily Temple’s own. Wrought by myth and mysticism, taut with desire and obsession, this debut looks unflinchingly at the nature of human being—and asks whether such constraints can be transcended. The Lightness is a book with fangs.”
- Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists