PERFUME & PAIN

Astrid Dahl, a midlist author obsessed with both her expansive perfume collection and her new Los Angeles neighbor, finds herself struggling to stay sober and avoid becoming wrapped up in yet another toxic relationship.

When readers are first introduced to Astrid—who is just about as abrasive and scathing as a character can be—things are not going well. She’s struggling with an on-again, off-again addiction to a combination of recreational drugs and alcohol that she calls the Patricia Highsmith, her career as a writer is on the verge of falling apart after a disastrous event at a Barnes & Noble, and her love life has largely been unsuccessful (due in no small part to Astrid’s attraction to drama). All that begins to change, however, when Astrid finds herself torn between Ivy, a secretive and seductive Ph.D. student who’s in her online writing group, the Sapphic Scribes, and Penelope, a self-confident older artist who conveniently lives in the bungalow next to Astrid’s. While she is initially apprehensive of Penelope and the smell of patchouli that clings to her, as they spend more time together, Astrid’s attraction grows to the point of obsession, mirroring Ivy’s obsession with Astrid. The book swiftly takes on a lurid, fever dream–like quality as Astrid’s Patricia Highsmith–induced blackouts happen with increasing frequency and produce unsettling results. Dorn’s book, whose title is taken from a popular work of lesbian pulp fiction written by Kimberley Kemp (aka Gilbert Fox) in the 1960s, is acerbic, steamy, and compulsively readable—fans of ribald, satirical humor (with a specific focus on celebrity melodrama and LGBTQ+ culture) will read it in one go. It’s this author’s best work yet.

A Sapphic roller-coaster ride and pitch-perfect homage to lesbian pulp fiction.