Prairie Oyster: ‘Had me laughing, wincing, cheering, recognising, admiring – and turning pages, rapidly’ (Maggie Nelson)

Author:   Sophie Robinson ,  Alby Baldwin
Publisher:   Little, Brown Book Group
ISBN:  

9780349127606


Pages:   208
Publication Date:   26 February 2026
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Not yet available   Availability explained
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.

Our Price $49.99 Quantity:  
Pre-Order

Share |

Prairie Oyster: ‘Had me laughing, wincing, cheering, recognising, admiring – and turning pages, rapidly’ (Maggie Nelson)


Overview

'A masterful contribution to the canon of queer women's literature. A smart and uncomfortable dissection of longing' SHON FAYE 'Sophie out-jars The Bell Jar with this dark and gleaming masterpiece' EILEEN MYLES 'Unflinching, unexpected, radical, lyrical, and wholly original' SOPHIE MACKINTOSH ----- Everything falls into place: she will get sober, she will eat well, she will start sleeping properly, she will work hard, she will resurrect her career, she will make The Lakes, she will charm Mitch, she will be somebody Pearl is a thirty-something filmmaker balanced precariously on the edge of an addiction-fuelled breakdown. But when she is invited to interview her idol and crush, lesbian cult filmmaker Mitch Meyer, her stilted life restarts. Buoyed and seduced by Mitch's interest in her and her work, Pearl swaps alcoholism for romantic obsession, and London for a summer in New York with Mitch. All the while she is haunted by a project she has been toying with for years: a film about Veronica Lake, a 1940s film star who drank herself into obscurity. ----- 'I loved this lyrical fever dream of a novel. Melancholic, hopeful, seedy, dazzling, tender, brutal. Just gorgeous' EMMA VAN STRAATEN 'Best novelistic treatment of addiction I've read in years' KIERAN GODDARD 'Robinson's prose is as addictive as Pearl's wanting. A fearless look into the dark' LAUREN MCQUISTIN 'This lush and detailed dive into the flayed-open femme heart is irresistible - wild, cringey, addictive, relatable' MICHELLE TEA

Full Product Details

Author:   Sophie Robinson ,  Alby Baldwin
Publisher:   Little, Brown Book Group
Imprint:   Fleet
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.20cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.400kg
ISBN:  

9780349127606


ISBN 10:   0349127603
Pages:   208
Publication Date:   26 February 2026
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available   Availability explained
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.

Table of Contents

Reviews

Prairie Oyster had me laughing, wincing, cheering, recognizing, admiring - and turning pages, rapidly. Sophie Robinson has gifted us a new classic of the (queer) lovelorn, strung out, and lurching toward art and new life -- Maggie Nelson Sophie out jars The Bell Jar with this dark and gleaming masterpiece. I cried twice at her tale of how love, nature, and art rumble aloud right up to the edge in a story that's both scary and godly. In life or on the page she did this -- Eileen Myles Sophie Robinson's debut is a masterful contribution to the canon of queer women's literature. She has such power over language and tension that I had to surrender to the rush and the nausea of Pearl's misguided obsession. A smart and uncomfortable dissection of longing taken to its ultimate conclusion -- Shon Faye I loved this meditative, lyrical fever dream of a novel. A tense and poetic exploration of obsession and art, it is beautiful and painful, like pressing a bruise. Melancholic, hopeful, seedy, dazzling, tender, brutal. Just gorgeous -- Emma van Straaten Sophie Robinson has long been one of my favourite poets, so when I heard she was writing a book I knew it was going to be something special. Her work is unflinching, unexpected, radical, lyrical, and wholly original. Sometimes bleak, always beautiful, she writes like nobody else -- Sophie Mackintosh Sophie Robinson's lush and detailed dive into the flayed-open femme heart is irresistible - wild, cringey, addictive, relatable. The ride to hell and back is real, and so perversely enjoyable you emerge sweaty, wanting to go back for more. Her excavation of the heart's chaos is so immersive and femme, so dirty and poppy and unafraid, emotional and frank and funny -- Michelle Tea Best novelistic treatment of addiction I've read in years -- Kerian Goddard Prairie Oyster is unparalleled in exploring the drowning, visceral ache of obsession and the reality of a complete unravelling all the way to the edge. Robinson's prose is as addictive as Pearl's wanting, this is a fearless look into the dark -- Lauren McQuistin


Sophie out jars The Bell Jar with this dark and gleaming masterpiece. I cried twice at her tale of how love, nature, and art rumble aloud right up to the edge in a story that's both scary and godly. In life or on the page she did this -- Eileen Myles Sophie Robinson's lush and detailed dive into the flayed-open femme heart is irresistible - wild, cringey, addictive, relatable. The ride to hell and back is real, and so perversely enjoyable you emerge sweaty, wanting to go back for more. Her excavation of the heart's chaos is so immersive and femme, so dirty and poppy and unafraid, emotional and frank and funny -- Michelle Tea Sophie Robinson has long been one of my favourite poets, so when I heard she was writing a book I knew it was going to be something special. Her work is unflinching, unexpected, radical, lyrical, and wholly original. Sometimes bleak, always beautiful, she writes like nobody else -- Sophie Mackintosh Sophie Robinson's debut is a masterful contribution to the canon of queer women's literature. She has such power over language and tension that I had to surrender to the rush and the nausea of Pearl's misguided obsession. A smart and uncomfortable dissection of longing taken to its ultimate conclusion -- Shon Faye


Sophie out jars The Bell Jar with this dark and gleaming masterpiece. I cried twice at her tale of how love, nature, and art rumble aloud right up to the edge in a story that's both scary and godly. In life or on the page she did this -- Eileen Myles


Author Information

Sophie Robinson's debut poetry collection Rabbit (Boiler House Press, 2018) was the Poetry Book Society Wild Card Choice, and poems from it were highly commended by the Forward Prize. Her work has been published in Granta, the Guardian, BOMB Magazine, The Believer, N+1, The Poetry Review and The White Review. Prairie Oyster is her first novel.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

April RG 26_2

 

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List