Thrillers & Suspense
![Claire Kohda - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B094RG79GK.jpg)
Woman, Eating: A Literary Vampire Novel
A Best Book of 2022 in Harper's Bazaar, Daily Mail, Glamour, and Thrillist.
Most Anticipated of 2022 in The Millions, Ms. Magazine, LitHub
A young, mixed-race vampire must find a way to balance her deep-seated desire to live amongst humans with her incessant hunger in this stunning debut novel from a writer-to-watch.
Lydia is hungry. She's always wanted to try Japanese food. Sashimi, ramen, onigiri with sour plum stuffed inside - the food her Japanese father liked to eat. And then there is bubble tea and iced-coffee, ice cream and cake, and foraged herbs and plants, and the vegetables grown by the other young artists at the London studio space she is secretly squatting in. But, Lydia can't eat any of these things. Her body doesn't work like those of other people. The only thing she can digest is blood, and it turns out that sourcing fresh pigs' blood in London - where she is living away from her vampire mother for the first time - is much more difficult than she'd anticipated.
Then there are the humans - the other artists at the studio space, the people at the gallery she interns at, the strange men that follow her after dark, and Ben, a boyish, goofy-grinned artist she is developing feelings for. Lydia knows that they are her natural prey, but she can't bring herself to feed on them. In her windowless studio, where she paints and studies the work of other artists, binge-watches Buffy the Vampire Slayer and videos of people eating food on YouTube and Instagram, Lydia considers her place in the world. She has many of the things humans wish for - perpetual youth, near-invulnerability, immortality – but she is miserable; she is lonely; and she is hungry - always hungry.
As Lydia develops as a woman and an artist, she will learn that she must reconcile the conflicts within her - between her demon and human sides, her mixed ethnic heritage, and her relationship with food, and, in turn, humans - if she is to find a way to exist in the world. Before any of this, however, she must eat.
"Absolutely brilliant – tragic, funny, eccentric and so perfectly suited to this particularly weird time. Claire Kohda takes the vampire trope and makes it her own in a way that feels fresh and original. Serious issues of race, disability, misogyny, body image, sexual abuse are handled with subtlety, insight, and a lightness of touch. The spell this novel casts is so complete I feel utterly, and happily, bitten." -- Ruth Ozeki, Booker-shortlisted author of A Tale for the Time Being
Most Anticipated of 2022 in The Millions, Ms. Magazine, LitHub
A young, mixed-race vampire must find a way to balance her deep-seated desire to live amongst humans with her incessant hunger in this stunning debut novel from a writer-to-watch.
Lydia is hungry. She's always wanted to try Japanese food. Sashimi, ramen, onigiri with sour plum stuffed inside - the food her Japanese father liked to eat. And then there is bubble tea and iced-coffee, ice cream and cake, and foraged herbs and plants, and the vegetables grown by the other young artists at the London studio space she is secretly squatting in. But, Lydia can't eat any of these things. Her body doesn't work like those of other people. The only thing she can digest is blood, and it turns out that sourcing fresh pigs' blood in London - where she is living away from her vampire mother for the first time - is much more difficult than she'd anticipated.
Then there are the humans - the other artists at the studio space, the people at the gallery she interns at, the strange men that follow her after dark, and Ben, a boyish, goofy-grinned artist she is developing feelings for. Lydia knows that they are her natural prey, but she can't bring herself to feed on them. In her windowless studio, where she paints and studies the work of other artists, binge-watches Buffy the Vampire Slayer and videos of people eating food on YouTube and Instagram, Lydia considers her place in the world. She has many of the things humans wish for - perpetual youth, near-invulnerability, immortality – but she is miserable; she is lonely; and she is hungry - always hungry.
As Lydia develops as a woman and an artist, she will learn that she must reconcile the conflicts within her - between her demon and human sides, her mixed ethnic heritage, and her relationship with food, and, in turn, humans - if she is to find a way to exist in the world. Before any of this, however, she must eat.
"Absolutely brilliant – tragic, funny, eccentric and so perfectly suited to this particularly weird time. Claire Kohda takes the vampire trope and makes it her own in a way that feels fresh and original. Serious issues of race, disability, misogyny, body image, sexual abuse are handled with subtlety, insight, and a lightness of touch. The spell this novel casts is so complete I feel utterly, and happily, bitten." -- Ruth Ozeki, Booker-shortlisted author of A Tale for the Time Being
Editorial Reviews
"Absolutely brilliant – tragic, funny, eccentric and so perfectly suited to this particularly weird time. Claire Kohda takes the vampire trope and makes it her own in a way that feels fresh and original. Serious issues of race, disability, misogyny, body image, sexual abuse are handled with subtlety, insight, and a lightness of touch, and the novel is ridiculously suspenseful! I was on the edge of my seat, just waiting for Lyd to bite someone, and in the end, I felt utterly and happily bitten." -- Ruth Ozeki, author of A Tale for the Time Being
"We have here a vampire book that will scrub any trace of Twilight from your mind-Claire Kohda's debut follows a young vampire dealing with all kinds of hunger: for acceptance, for artistic success, and for sushi." -- Glamour
"The most unusual, original and strikingly contemporary vampire novel to come along in years." -- The Guardian
"We've seen sexy vampires, scary vampires and psychic vampires, but never one quite like the one in this ambitious debut....With wit and a poet's eye, Kohda examines cravings, desire and emptiness."
-- New York Times
"Unsettling, sensual, subversive, Woman, Eating turns the vampire trope on its head with its startlingly original female protagonist, caught between two worlds. It is a profound meditation on alienation and appetite, and what it means to be a young woman who experiences life at an acute level of intensity and awareness. Claire Kohda's prose is biting, yet lush and gorgeous. I was uncomfortably smitten." -- Lisa Harding, author of Jenna Book Club Pick Bright Burning Things
"A magnificent debut." -- The Millions
"Woman, Eating deals a lot with food, hunger, and Lydia's relationship to her body. But this novel also deals with spiritual nourishment, art, womanhood, shame, and identity....Kohda's prose will take you on a deep emotional journey. Trust me, this is not your average vampire story-it is a novel that displays the incredible breadth of what speculative fiction can show us about the human condition." -- Tor.com
"Presenting a genuinely fresh take on the vampire mythos is an exceedingly difficult task in a post-Twilight world of bloodsucker rehash, not to mention enduring classic representation, but that's precisely what Kohda manages in her debut novel....A delicate, consistently surprising riff on the vampire narrative, and a stealthy, subversive story o...
"We have here a vampire book that will scrub any trace of Twilight from your mind-Claire Kohda's debut follows a young vampire dealing with all kinds of hunger: for acceptance, for artistic success, and for sushi." -- Glamour
"The most unusual, original and strikingly contemporary vampire novel to come along in years." -- The Guardian
"We've seen sexy vampires, scary vampires and psychic vampires, but never one quite like the one in this ambitious debut....With wit and a poet's eye, Kohda examines cravings, desire and emptiness."
-- New York Times
"Unsettling, sensual, subversive, Woman, Eating turns the vampire trope on its head with its startlingly original female protagonist, caught between two worlds. It is a profound meditation on alienation and appetite, and what it means to be a young woman who experiences life at an acute level of intensity and awareness. Claire Kohda's prose is biting, yet lush and gorgeous. I was uncomfortably smitten." -- Lisa Harding, author of Jenna Book Club Pick Bright Burning Things
"A magnificent debut." -- The Millions
"Woman, Eating deals a lot with food, hunger, and Lydia's relationship to her body. But this novel also deals with spiritual nourishment, art, womanhood, shame, and identity....Kohda's prose will take you on a deep emotional journey. Trust me, this is not your average vampire story-it is a novel that displays the incredible breadth of what speculative fiction can show us about the human condition." -- Tor.com
"Presenting a genuinely fresh take on the vampire mythos is an exceedingly difficult task in a post-Twilight world of bloodsucker rehash, not to mention enduring classic representation, but that's precisely what Kohda manages in her debut novel....A delicate, consistently surprising riff on the vampire narrative, and a stealthy, subversive story o...
Readers Top Reviews
Kath
I gobbled this up in one sitting! So compelling and beautifully written. I'm not into typical vampire stuff, but this felt so fresh in its take and so grounded, that you could almost forget its even about a vampire at times. Smart, subtly funny, moving and dark (but not at all in a "vampy" way), this is something really special. Its a book I won't forget in a long time.
CarolinaBelleBL
This was a very odd and intriguing read. Very unlike anything else I have read. I still don’t know if this is one that I adore because if it’s eccentricities or if it will be remembered simply as a very strange little tale that was maybe too eccentric for me. It was enjoyable to read and I liked how it was so different from my usual read.
Michelle
Now that was a unique vampire story if ever I read one! 🧛♀️ Lydia is a 23 year old art school graduate whose mother has recently been put in a nursing home. This is really her first time venturing out into the world without her mother by her side guiding her way. You see, Lydia isn't like you or I, she is a vampire. Her father was Japanese and what she considers to be her human side but her mother is a vampire that turned her when she was just a baby. Her mother was full of self loathing and refers to them as demons that deserve nothing more than pigs blood, the filthiest of all animals. They were always able to procure pigs blood by the barrel from a local butcher that asked no questions but now that Lydia is on her own she is finding it more and more difficult to satisfy her hunger and with no pigs blood in sight she will need to get creative. (If you're like me you'll be thinking a vampire in a nursing home? What in the heck?!?! I assure you an answer is provided.) Lydia rents a studio space with other artists and she dreams of living amongst them, fully human. After attending a dinner party where people laugh and joke and revel in each others company she can't believe all she has missed out on and she is wondering if she can starve the demon out. She is desperate to be like them until she can no longer deny who and what she actually is. I truly loved Lydia as a character, vampire teeth and all. While her situation is unique her problems are those of any young woman trying to figure out her path in life. She mostly wants to be liked and loved by those around her. There is a constant nagging feeling of being different and less worthy of her peers and having obstacles that you can't really open up to friends about puts her in a precarious position. Speaking of friends, it's nearly impossible to have them when you have eternal life. When you stay the same and those around you fall in love, have children, and grow old and you are you, always and forever, for good or for bad. Not to mention her insatiable appetite and how she desperately wants to eat all of the food those around her are eating, especially that of Japanese food, which she feels would connect her with her human father. If your looking for thrills, chills, suspense, horror, blood, guts and gore then move along as you will not find any of that here. This is a character study of an interesting and intriguing young woman, a coming of age, or at least, coming of womanhood, narrated by a fascinating voice I will not soon forget. 4 stars! Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVia for my complimentary copy.
Cindy Vattathil
This was a VERY different kind of vampire novel! I loved the delicious subtlety and the delicate humanity woven into the life of the main character, Lydia, and her work as an artist. The isolation she feels and the hunger (both physically and metaphorically) during her time is so intense, it seems as though she gets to the very heart of what it is to be human...despite the fact that she is something so much more! I also enjoyed the way that the book, despite not having a huge arc or a lot of action, touched on the rocky dynamics she shared with her mother - a very relatable thing - as well as her longing for love and the ultimate decision to set such feelings free. This is a story all about the tiniest particles of existence; of evolution and desire, belonging and acceptance, breaking free from our limited notions of self and allowing life to be whatever tangible thing it is to each of us. Even if that thing is death. I LOVED this very quick read (230 pages)…and would recommend it to anyone who loves deep character studies and beautifully subtle storylines.
