![Ruth Madievsky - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B01COEX1TG.jpg)
All-Night Pharmacy: A Novel
Rachel Kushner meets David Lynch in this fever dream of an LA novel about a young woman who commits a drunken act of violence just before her sister vanishes without a trace
On the night of her high school graduation, a young woman follows her older sister Debbie to Salvation, a Los Angeles bar patronized by energy healers, aspiring actors, and all-around misfits. After the two share a bag of unidentified pills, the evening turns into a haze of sensual and risky interactions-nothing unusual for two sisters bound in an incredibly toxic relationship. Our unnamed narrator has always been under the spell of the alluring and rebellious Debbie and, despite her own hesitations, she has always said yes to nights like these. That is, until Debbie disappears.
Falling deeper into the life she cultivated with her sister, our narrator gets a job as an emergency room secretary where she steals pills to sell on the side. Cue Sasha, a Jewish refugee from the former Soviet Union who arrives at the hospital claiming to be a psychic tasked with acting as the narrator's spiritual guide. The nature of this relationship evolves and blurs, a kaleidoscope of friendship, sex, mysticism, and ambiguous power dynamics.
With prose pulsing like a neon sign, Ruth Madievsky's All-Night Pharmacy is an intoxicating portrait of a young woman consumed with unease over how a person should be. As she attempts sobriety and sexual embodiment, she must decide whether to search for her estranged sister, or allow her to remain a relic of the past.
On the night of her high school graduation, a young woman follows her older sister Debbie to Salvation, a Los Angeles bar patronized by energy healers, aspiring actors, and all-around misfits. After the two share a bag of unidentified pills, the evening turns into a haze of sensual and risky interactions-nothing unusual for two sisters bound in an incredibly toxic relationship. Our unnamed narrator has always been under the spell of the alluring and rebellious Debbie and, despite her own hesitations, she has always said yes to nights like these. That is, until Debbie disappears.
Falling deeper into the life she cultivated with her sister, our narrator gets a job as an emergency room secretary where she steals pills to sell on the side. Cue Sasha, a Jewish refugee from the former Soviet Union who arrives at the hospital claiming to be a psychic tasked with acting as the narrator's spiritual guide. The nature of this relationship evolves and blurs, a kaleidoscope of friendship, sex, mysticism, and ambiguous power dynamics.
With prose pulsing like a neon sign, Ruth Madievsky's All-Night Pharmacy is an intoxicating portrait of a young woman consumed with unease over how a person should be. As she attempts sobriety and sexual embodiment, she must decide whether to search for her estranged sister, or allow her to remain a relic of the past.
Editorial Reviews
Named a Most Anticipated Book by Nylon, Hey Alma, Literary Hub, Debutiful, The Every LGBTQ Reads, Girl, Library Journal and more
Shondaland, A Best Book of the Summer
The Pink News, A Best Sapphic Book of 2023
Goodreads, A Buzziest Debut Novel of the Year
"A wild L.A. story in which plot and prose are both turned up to the max . . . A tender, queer love story and a deep dive into the inherited trauma of immigrants (like Madevsky) from the former Soviet Union." -Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times
"By turns hilarious and harrowing, we follow the narrator as she wrestles with family dysfunction, addiction, seduction and, finally, a measure of self-reflection." -Hannah Bae, San Francisco Chronicle
"A vivid debut." -Vanity Fair
"If you're looking for a wild and delightfully weird sister story, this book is for you." -Emma Specter, Vogue
"A breathless fever dream of a novel." -Nylon
"A glowing neon gem." -The Orange County Register
"Madievsky's debut has everything I want from a novel: a toxic sister relationship, countless nights at a trashy LA nightclub called Salvation, and a dreamy sapphic romance . . . This novel is hypnotic; I inhaled it." -Anna Dorn, Nylon
"A gripping, surrealist portrait of a toxic sibling relationship . . . Madievsky's lyrical-prose style and arresting imagery create a book that is far more than an everyday romp through the Los Angeles underbelly. This is a startling story of a young woman consumed by the urge to do right." -Isle McElroy, Vulture
"All-Night Pharmacy reads like an endless Los Angeles party: aglow with fervency and bursting with drugs, sex, desperate actors, energ...
Shondaland, A Best Book of the Summer
The Pink News, A Best Sapphic Book of 2023
Goodreads, A Buzziest Debut Novel of the Year
"A wild L.A. story in which plot and prose are both turned up to the max . . . A tender, queer love story and a deep dive into the inherited trauma of immigrants (like Madevsky) from the former Soviet Union." -Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times
"By turns hilarious and harrowing, we follow the narrator as she wrestles with family dysfunction, addiction, seduction and, finally, a measure of self-reflection." -Hannah Bae, San Francisco Chronicle
"A vivid debut." -Vanity Fair
"If you're looking for a wild and delightfully weird sister story, this book is for you." -Emma Specter, Vogue
"A breathless fever dream of a novel." -Nylon
"A glowing neon gem." -The Orange County Register
"Madievsky's debut has everything I want from a novel: a toxic sister relationship, countless nights at a trashy LA nightclub called Salvation, and a dreamy sapphic romance . . . This novel is hypnotic; I inhaled it." -Anna Dorn, Nylon
"A gripping, surrealist portrait of a toxic sibling relationship . . . Madievsky's lyrical-prose style and arresting imagery create a book that is far more than an everyday romp through the Los Angeles underbelly. This is a startling story of a young woman consumed by the urge to do right." -Isle McElroy, Vulture
"All-Night Pharmacy reads like an endless Los Angeles party: aglow with fervency and bursting with drugs, sex, desperate actors, energ...
