Couverture / Jaquette

"A perfect novel-taut and seductive." -Brandon Taylor, author of Real Life and Filthy Animals



"Intimacies is a haunting, precise, and morally astute novel that reads like a psychological thriller…. Katie Kitamura is a wonder." -Dana Spiotta, author of Innocents and Others and Eat the Document

A novel from the author of A Separation, an electrifying story about a woman caught between many truths.

An interpreter has come to The Hague to escape New York and work at the International Court. A woman of many languages and identities, she is looking for a place to finally call home.



She's drawn into simmering personal dramas: her lover, Adriaan, is separated from his wife but still entangled in his marriage. Her friend Jana witnesses a seemingly random act of violence, a crime the interpreter becomes increasingly obsessed with as she befriends the victim's sister. And she's pulled into an explosive political controversy when she's asked to interpret for a former president accused of war crimes.



A woman of quiet passion, she confronts power, love, and violence, both in her personal intimacies and in her work at the Court. She is soon pushed to the precipice, where betrayal and heartbreak threaten to overwhelm her, forcing her to decide what she wants from her life.



Story Locale: The Hague, The Netherlands

Note biographique

Katie Kitamura's most recent novel, A Separation, was a finalist for the Premio Gregor von Rezzori and a New York Times Notable Book. It was named a best book of the year by over a dozen publications and translated into sixteen languages, and is being adapted for film. Her two previous novels, Gone to the Forest and The Longshot, were both finalists for the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award. A recipient of fellowships from the Lannan Foundation and Santa Maddalena Foundation, Katie has written for publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, Granta, BOMB Magazine, Triple Canopy, and Frieze. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University.

Fonctionnalité

Building on a Breakout Book: Katie's first book with Riverhead was A Separation and it catapulted her into a new sphere - ecstatic reviews, a NYT Notable, bestseller lists - with the sales to match. She was praised by everyone from Paula McLain to Knausgaard, Jenny Offill to Rachel Kushner to Zadie Smith.

Iconic Style and Quiet Power: Katie's writing is both completely absorbing, commanding, and yet rhythmically unique. She has a cadence all her own that creates a beautiful read, one that's tightly paced, full of tension and simmering passion. There is a cult of fans waiting for her next novel and they will love this one.

A Novel for Adults: The moral complexities, the relationships, the cultural and social implications of this story reads like Sally Rooney for grown-ups, with the European sensibility of Elena Ferrante or Rachel Cusk. The main characters are in their 30s and 40s. The narrator is cool and collected, even if she's turbulent underneath; she's a woman people are drawn to but who remains elusive.

Timely, Essential Reading: Katie weaves the topics of xenophobia, sexual harassment, power dynamics, race, diplomacy, and political legacy into a deeply human story about the moral complexities and personal reckonings of her characters.

Détails