Eat My Heart Out

August 6, 2012
Set in gritty Depression-era West Virginia, Harman’s debut novel tells the story of rural midwife Patience Murphy, a woman who loves helping new mothers bring children into the world. But a secret, violent past keeps her from letting anyone get too close, at least until she acquires a black housemate named Bitsy as well as Hester, a handsome neighbor and veterinarian whose exposure to dying horses in WWI fueled his decision to take up his father’s vocation. As times grow harder than they already are, these three unlikely friends have to pull together, even if it means revealing secrets that could bring trouble to them all. While Harman (Arms Wide Open: A Midwife’s Journey, a memoir), a certified nurse-midwife who has practiced in many rural communities, clearly has a comprehensive understanding of midwifery, her narrative pacing leaves much to be desired. Patience’s story is slow, and the characters that surround her are insufficiently drawn, creating more inertia than intrigue. Still, the stories of the births that Patience handles in this difficult era are fascinating. Agent: Barbara Braun, Barbara Braun Associates.

March 9, 2015
The literary debut of feminist scholar and art critic Pilger has drawn much applause for its audacious narrator and her posh, darkly comic world in the U.K., where it was published in 2014. American readers can now meet the millennial antithesis to Bridget Jones: Pilger’s protagonist, 23-year-old Ann-Marie, didn’t finish her degree, can’t hold down a hostess gig, and systematically destroys every one of her romantic prospects, including Sebastian, the ex she obsesses over. In lieu of a diary, we see into Ann-Marie’s wicked-smart, increasingly desperate brain via texts and emails, as well as into her book bag—in which she carries tomes by Heidegger and Falling Out of Fate, by feminist writer Stephanie Haight. We rush along with Ann-Marie as she flails through a series of self-destructive flings; gets herself booted out of the townhouse she shares with her friend Freddie, the scion of a wealthy family pursuing post-Hirsch-style art; and finds herself subjected to (and rejecting) Haight’s self-styled boot camp. With this electric romp of a novel, Pilger turns a neon light on to the intersection of romantic love and feminism.