Stay in the World

The Blue Place and Stay by Nicola Griffith These novels are written by the author of Slow River & Ammonite. Unlike those, these are not science fiction; they are thrillers. The Blue Place won a Lambda award, I believe.

The series is about Aud Torvingen, a character who is seriously emotionally damaged. In fact, I could easily see her being the villain in a different novel. She is the narrator, though, so we see why she acts the way she does.

She is wary and violent and closed off from the world. That starts to change when she is involved in solving a mystery. (Two mysteries, if you include the second novel.) I don't think I want to summarize the plot; that is rarely a good idea for these sorts of books.

These novels have a lot of pain in them, but also a lot of beauty. The next in the series comes out in May, and I can't wait to read it.