Woman, Eating: A Literary Vampire Novel

An IndieNext Pick! A Best Book of 2022 in Harper’s Bazaar, Daily Mail, Glamour, and Thrillist!Most Anticipated of 2022 in The Millions, Ms. Magazine, LitHubA young, mixed-race vampire must find a way to balance her deep-seated desire to live amongst humans with her incessant hunger in this stunning debut novel from a writer-to-watch.Lydia is hungry. She's always wanted to try Japanese food. Sashimi, ramen, onigiri with sour plum stuffed inside - the food her Japanese father liked to eat. And then there is bubble tea and iced-coffee, ice cream and cake, and foraged herbs and plants, and the vegetables grown by the other young artists at the London studio space she is secretly squatting in. But, Lydia can't eat any of these things. Her body doesn't work like those of other people. The only thing she can digest is blood, and it turns out that sourcing fresh pigs' blood in London - where she is living away from her vampire mother for the first time - is much more difficult than she'd anticipated.Then there are the humans - the other artists at the studio space, the people at the gallery she interns at, the strange men that follow her after dark, and Ben, a boyish, goofy-grinned artist she is developing feelings for. Lydia knows that they are her natural prey, but she can't bring herself to feed on them. In her windowless studio, where she paints and studies the work of other artists, binge-watches Buffy the Vampire Slayer and videos of people eating food on YouTube and Instagram, Lydia considers her place in the world. She has many of the things humans wish for - perpetual youth, near-invulnerability, immortality – but she is miserable; she is lonely; and she is hungry - always hungry.As Lydia develops as a woman and an artist, she will learn that she must reconcile the conflicts within her - between her demon and human sides, her mixed ethnic heritage, and her relationship with food, and, in turn, humans - if she is to find a way to exist in the world. Before any of this, however, she must eat.“Absolutely brilliant – tragic, funny, eccentric and so perfectly suited to this particularly weird time. Claire Kohda takes the vampire trope and makes it her own in a way that feels fresh and original. Serious issues of race, disability, misogyny, body image, sexual abuse are handled with subtlety, insight, and a lightness of touch. The spell this novel casts is so complete I feel utterly, and happily, bitten.” -- Ruth Ozeki, Booker-shortlisted author of A Tale for the Time Being

New York Times Book Review"Absolutely brilliant – tragic, funny, eccentric and so perfectly suited to this particularly weird time. Claire Kohda takes the vampire trope and makes it her own in a way that feels fresh and original. Serious issues of race, disability, misogyny, body image, sexual abuse are handled with subtlety, insight, and a lightness of touch, and the novel is ridiculously suspenseful! I was on the edge of my seat, just waiting for Lyd to bite someone, and in the end, I felt utterly and happily bitten."

“One of the most original vampire novels in ages, Claire Kohda’s Woman, Eatingfollows Lydia, a British, Japanese and Malaysian vampire struggling to survive. . . . Kohda has given Lydia a host of great vampire qualities, such as excellent night vision and an ability to experience the entire life of a creature by drinking its blood. But it’s Kohda’s exploration of Lydia’s inner world, the pain and longing she feels as an outsider, that makes Woman, Eating such a delicious novel.”

The Mary Sue"A magnificent debut."

“Favorites” lists, and for very good reason: it’s a personable and unique take on what modern vampirism could look like. . . . Lydia was a mixed-Asian woman who learned how to be true to herself, to live unshackled to the colonialist society that had contained her. And now, she could finally live, not as the beast she was raised to think she was, but as Lydia, a clever, creative, and cunning young woman.”

including sexism, racism, assault, job insecurity and social isolation.”

“Claire Kohda’s debut, Woman, Eating, is an insightful and hypnotic exploration of hunger. . . . Through Lydia’s mixed-race heritage and particular vampire traits, Kohda deftly tackles difficult, and common, themes

and, ultimately, self-empowerment. . . . Subversive and gratifying.”

“Lydia’s achingly vulnerable first-person narration gains momentum as she achieves self-acceptance

Booklist

“Kohda has created a provocative, sympathetic, and satisfying dive into the mind of an unusual young woman at a crossroads.”

Brooklyn Rail

“Claire Kohda’s debut is a deeply moving contemplation on love, food, art, and what it means to be alive. It’s also a vampire novel. . . . Lyd wants a different relationship to art and to life, she wants to make her own art and although she yearns for human community, she must learn to experience life in the best way she can, by devouring it.”

Arts Fuse"Lydia sees herself not as a coherent being but as a body where human and demon uneasily cohabit. Bloodthirst aside, this is a pretty effective encapsulation of what it means to be a person with free will. Unless we behave so atrociously as to destroy any chance of redemption, each of us is the site of a war between good and evil that will rage on for as long as we live

“In this enjoyable debut novel, Kohda presents Lydia’s thirst for blood as a tidy metaphor for more common cravings. The protagonist’s discomfort with her condition comes across as quite realistic in what is essentially a coming-of-age novel. The author is particularly deft at illustrating how unacknowledged desire will out, undermining our best intentions.”

About the Author

Claire Kohda is an English writer and musician. She reviews books for publications including The Guardian and The TLS. As a violinist, she has played with Jessie Ware, RY X, Pete Tong, the London Contemporary Orchestra and The English Chamber Orchestra, amongst others, and on various film soundtracks.

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