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by Laura Sims
From the highly acclaimed author of How Can I Help You, a New York Times Best Thriller of the Year: a singular take on the domestic suspense novel that follows a 1960s housewife turned amateur photographer who begins to fear for her life when she notices the dark silhouette of a man in the background of her self-portraits.
The photos Judith Stanley takes are just for her, a private passion to fill her suburban days. But when she shares them with Paul Sorenson, her new photography instructor, she's unprepared to hear his astonished praise. "Stunning," he calls her photos. "Extraordinary." She has an uncanny eye, he says, and should consider publication. He could help. Except Judith has no interest in sharing her work; in fact, the mere idea of it frightens her.
Still, emboldened by Paul's encouragement, Judith ventures out beyond her quiet neighborhood to the city in search of increasingly striking images. When she starts to notice the dark shape of a man in the corner of her self-portraits, Judith is certain he's an attacker from her past. She doesn't know why he has returned, but she's sure of his presence: the hoarse sound of his breathing, his hard grip on her elbow. Perhaps it would appease the man if she were to put her camera down and give up her private passion. But she can't; she refuses. Until one night when the man finally emerges from the shadows, and Judith's story suddenly and irrevocably becomes his own.
Chilling and heart-poundingly propulsive, The Man is a phenomenal and timely novel exploring the inescapable fear of living as a woman, the tantalizing seduction of artistic freedom, and the very real dangers that lurk both inside and outside the confines of the mind. The Man marks Laura Sims as an extraordinary talent at the top of her game; and this, her third novel, is her greatest achievement yet.
Do you think May and Otto's attempts at manipulating genetics were successful? In what ways did their attempts to prioritize Matthew's DNA succeed? What do you think Khong is trying to say here about how a person grows and develops traits?
I keep wondering if this kind of manipulation is even possible with contemporary science (let alone when the manipulations would have happened). I don't know the answer to that, but because of my uncertainty about the "reality" of such a manipulation, it was easy for me to approach it as metaphor...
-Kathleen_L
"Sims delivers a devilish psychological thriller set in the 1960s and centered on empty-nester Judith Stanley, who's taking a photography class with professor Paul Sorenson...Sims artfully handles their parallel paranoias, and the novel's unsettling ending boldly denies readers the comfort of certainty. The result is an appealingly disturbing tale that will linger in readers' minds." —Publishers Weekly
"[The Man] is a fast-paced, twisty, thrilling tale, probing the line between artistic creation and exploitation and the persistent dangers women face, set in a noir-tinged, unsettling suburban world." —Booklist
"This atmospheric exploration of trauma, obsession, and the uneasy space between truth and perception is recommended for readers who enjoy ambiguity, psychological tension, and narrators whose reliability is in question." —Library Journal
"Fiercely intelligent and deeply chilling, The Man—like the protagonist's self-portraits—contains more than first meets the eye. It's the sort of novel I immediately want to talk about with others—the perfect book club read. I wish I could read it again for the first time!" —Ana Reyes, New York Times bestselling author of The House in the Pines
"With elegant and propulsive prose, The Man is a captivating page-turner that explores art, ambition, gender dynamics, and true fear. Creepy, disturbing, and dripping with dread, it was nearly impossible to put down." —Robyn Harding, internationally bestselling author of Strangers in the Villa
This information about The Man was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: © Jen Lee / Jen Lee Productions
Laura Sims is the author of the critically acclaimed novel, Looker, now in development for television with eOne and Emily Mortimer's King Bee Productions. An award-winning poet, Sims has published four poetry collections; her essays and poems have appeared in The New Republic, Boston Review, Electric Lit, and more. She and her family live in New Jersey, where she works part-time as a reference librarian and hosts the library's lecture series.
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