Private Rites A Novel
Private Rites by Julia Armfield is a novel published by Flatiron Books on December 3, 2024. This edition, written in English and spanning 304 pages, presents a speculative reimagining of King Lear, focusing on three sisters navigating queer love and loss in a world increasingly defined by water and old rituals. Following the death of their father, a revered architect, the sisters—Isla, Irene, and Agnes—are drawn together in their childhood home, where they confront the secrets and memories he left behind.
As the sisters grapple with their estrangement, their lives become increasingly complicated. Irene faces challenges in her relationship, Isla is haunted by her ex-wife’s calls, and Agnes experiences love for the first time. The narrative unfolds against the backdrop of their mother’s mysterious disappearance and the unsettling interest of strangers in their lives. This exploration of family dynamics and personal revelations reveals a deeper purpose for the sisters, intertwining themes of family life and LGBTQ+ experiences within a literary framework.
Official synopsis Publisher
A NEW YORK TIMES Editors’ Choice!
From the BELOVED, AWARD-WINNING author of Our Wives Under the Sea, a speculative reimagining of King Lear, centering three sisters navigating queer love and loss in a drowning world
“One of my FAVORITE NOVELS of the past few years.” —Jeff VanderMeer, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of Annihilation
It’s been raining for a long time now, so long that the land has reshaped itself and old rituals and religions are creeping back into practice. Sisters Isla, Irene, and Agnes have not spoken in some time when their father, an architect as cruel as he was revered, dies. His death offers an opportunity for the sisters to come together in a new way. In the grand glass house they grew up in, their father’s most famous creation, the sisters sort through the secrets and memories he left behind, until their fragile bond is shattered by a revelation in his will.
The sisters are more estranged than ever, and their lives spin out of control: Irene’s relationship is straining at the seams, Isla’s ex-wife keeps calling, and cynical Agnes is falling in love for the first time. But something even more sinister might be unfolding, something related to their mother’s long-ago disappearance and the strangers who have always seemed unusually interested in the sisters’ lives. Soon, it becomes clear that the sisters have been chosen for a very particular purpose, one with shattering implications for their family and their imperiled world.
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