The Mars Room

Rachel Kushner Jonathan Cape €16.99

Kushner’s follow-up to The Flamethrowers is an almost monochromatic but no less engaging portrait of women in a California prison. At its centre is a lap-dancer named Romy Hall who receives two life sentences for killing a stalker. Her efforts to learn what has become of her son seem nearly as quixotic as her plans to escape. Surrounding her are butch bullies, casually sadistic guards and death-row prima donnas, while illusory saviours hover beyond the walls. Kushner creates immersive histories of frayed lives from the criminal demimonde.