Women! In! Peril!

by Jessie Ren Marshall

Overview

Full of wry humor, sharp social commentary, and an irrepressible sense of hope, a ferociously feminist debut short story collection from award-winning playwright Jessie Ren Marshall.

In this brash and unputdownable collection, we meet a sex bot trying to outlast her return policy, a skeptical lesbian grappling with her wife's mysterious pregnancy, and a post-Earth colonist struggling to maintain her faith in humanity as she travels to “Planet B.” Whether they exist in the grounded realism of a college dance studio or the speculative world of Deep Space, these women push against social norms and family expectations to reclaim their power, understand their mistakes, and find a better future.

Hilarious, heartbreaking, and defiantly optimistic, the twelve stories in Women! In! Peril! balance humor and gravitas to explore the complexities of queerness, toxic relationships, parenting and divorce, Asian and Asian American identity, and so much more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781639732289
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	04/02/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	867,122
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Jessie Ren Marshall is a mixed race, Japanese-American writer who holds an MFA in Fiction from NYU. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The New York Times' Modern Love column, The Gettysburg Review, Barrelhouse, The Common, ZYZZYVA, Chicago Quarterly Review, and Joyland, where her story “Late Girl” was a finalist for the 2022 Open Border Prize. Her musical Pele&The Hi'iakas was a semi-finalist for the 2021 Eugene O'Neill National Musical Theater Conference, and her play Hapa Girls won the 2020 Kumu Kahua Hawai'i Prize. She lives with her dogs on Hawai'i Island.

Editorial Reviews

02/05/2024

Asian American girls and women grapple with loneliness, desire, and the dissolution of their relationships in Marshall’s bold debut collection. A lesbian relationship is rocked in “My Immaculate Girlfriend” when Melody becomes pregnant with what she claims is a “miracle baby,” then is offered the role of the Virgin Mary in a Nativity play. In “Late Girl,” one of many stories exploring the body’s relationship to desire, memory, and trauma, college student Chelsea suffers from amnesia after falling and hitting her head. She enrolls in a modern dance class, kindling an obsession with her instructor, Amy, that brings back memories of the night of the accident. In the apocalyptic title story, one of the female passengers aboard the spaceship The America recalls the death and devastation she left behind in a now-uninhabitable Earth and wonders about her future on the mysterious Planet B, where the ship is destined. Stocking these stories with an eclectic cast ranging from robots to divorcées and sideshow performers, Marshall explores with humor and tenderness the complex emotional interiors of characters who find themselves at a crossroads. This heralds the arrival of an arresting new voice. Agent: Michelle Brower and Natalie Edwards, Trellis Literary. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Both humorous and raw, the story is a concise snapshot of how A.I. could bring out the worst in us. It might even make you wonder who should be in charge.” —Sierra Greer, author of ANNIE BOT, Lithub

“Remarkable . . . The stories range from absolutely absurd to merely heartbreaking; each one unique and inventive and full of bittersweet magic.” —Electric Literature

“Genre-bending . . . wickedly smart . . . Women! In! Peril! reflects on the ever-evolving complexities of being a woman, especially when intertwined with LGBTQ and Asian American experiences. This unflinching lens gives power to this collection, with Marshall's delightful sense of humor sparkling throughout. An amusing but poignant collection for those who enjoy strange women in even stranger circumstances.” —Booklist

“For starters, excellent title. This debut short story collection from playwright Marshall spans sex bots and space colonists, wives and divorcées, prodding at the many meanings of womanhood. Short story master Deesha Philyaw, also taken by the book's title, calls this one 'incisive! Provocative! And utterly satisfying!'” —The Millions, "Most Anticipated: The Great Spring 2024 Preview"

“Delectable . . . It's weird, it's wild, and it's wonderful.” —Debutiful, “Most Anticipated Debut Books of 2024”

“[A] bold debut collection . . . Stocking these stories with an eclectic cast ranging from robots to divorcées and sideshow performers, Marshall explores with humor and tenderness the complex emotional interiors of characters who find themselves at a crossroads. This heralds the arrival of an arresting new voice.” —Publishers Weekly

“Cinematic, charming, and disturbing.” —Melissa Higgins, Lithub

“Bold and often, hilarious. There is a guilty pleasure in reading these stories. You feel like you're in the hands of someone who has a sharp eye for the strangeness of existing in today's world and doesn't have anything she is too afraid to say.” —Sasha Vasilyuk, Electric Literature

“[W]ickedly funny and imaginative . . . These stories are strange, but they work, and even in folly the female protagonists make things happen, they demand to be seen and heard. By way of a remarkable imagination and an energetic writing style, Jessie Ren Marshall gives her characters glorious expression . . . I had never heard of Jessie Ren Marshall, but after reading her debut effort I won't forget her any time soon.” —Brian Tanguay, California Review of Books

“A witty collection of subversive, sardonic tales . . . [that] span bizarre dystopias, gritty realities, and everything in between with clever control and electric wit . . . Marshall's striking voice rings loud and clear in each one as she probes the emotional complexities of being a woman who is, indeed, occasionally in peril . . . Nearly every offering leaves us wanting more . . . This deliciously sardonic collection stands out for its deft navigation of inner turmoil. Marshall's use of shifting realities and dystopian elements in some of the stories is reminiscent of George Saunders, while her dark humor recalls Lorrie Moore. It's a winning combination that promises a bright future for the author.” —Washington Independent Review of Books

“Jessie Ren Marshall's clever stories took me on a wild, wonderful ride through speculative landscapes both heartrending and hilarious. Women! In! Peril! is incisive! Provocative! And utterly satisfying!” —Deesha Philyaw, National Book Award Nominated author of THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES

“Hilarious, strange, profound, and profoundly strange in that way only truly great short fiction can be. Marshall's creativity seems boundless . . . This collection shows the power and vibrance of the short story at its best and shows that Marshall is a talent we are lucky to have.” —Gwen E. Kirby, author of SHIT CASSANDRA SAW

“Women! In! Peril! lives up to its obsession-worthy title and cover. This short story debut is full of smart, fresh fiction that I wanted to savor. Marshall brings a hilarious voice to inventive literary stories about women whose struggles range from divorce to the destruction of the human race. Singular characters like a former ballerina with memory loss and a lesbian whose girlfriend thinks she's carrying the baby Jesus make up this exciting and unabashedly queer collection!” —The Southern Bookseller Review

“Jessie Ren Marshall's voice in these stories is virtuosic in its range-surprising, funny, melancholy, shocking, poignant, and profound. She manages this by turns, and sometimes, amazingly, all at once. Women! In! Peril! is a fantastically good collection.” —Brian Hall, author of THE SASKIAD and THE STONE LOVES THE WORLD

“Welp, I've found my new favorite writer. Jessie Ren Marshall is so funny, so smart, so inventive, and I loved living in her wild imagination with these characters. I love it so much I want to roll in its words like a pig in the mud. I've been telling everyone I know about this book. Read it. It's a gift.” —Annie Hartnett, author of RABBIT CAKE and UNLIKELY ANIMALS

“Fearless and hilarious, brutal and huge-hearted . . . These stories are exhilaratingly honest, yet saturated with love for the messy, doomed worlds they create-and I fell totally under their spell.” —Clare Beams, author of THE ILLNESS LESSON

“A powerful and fearless work . . . these twelve stories relentlessly pursue questions of identity, belonging, and what it means to be a woman in contemporary society; I would eagerly follow them into deep space and beyond. Marshall's creative range is breathtaking, and Women! In! Peril! is a spectacular debut.” —Megan Kamalei Kakimoto, author of EVERY DROP IS A MAN'S NIGHTMARE

“In this sharp, inventive collection, Marshall establishes herself as someone to watch. These are stories that make you think, make you laugh, and make you uncomfortable in the way that only smart fiction can.” —Rita Chang-Eppig, author of DEEP AS THE SKY, RED AS THE SEA

“Brilliant and fearless, Women! In! Peril! is an utterly original collection. Jessie Ren Marshall inhabits a thrilling range of characters-an android, space traveler, former ballerina, jilted wives and more . . . A blazing, big-hearted debut.” —Vanessa Hua, author of FORBIDDEN CITY

“With settings that span the known and unknown universe, her work explores queerness, toxic relationships with a consistent note of total weirdness.” —Autostraddle, “Most Anticipated Queer Books for Spring 2024”

“An early contender for best title/cover combo. An award-winning playwright makes her prose debut with this collection of short stories, including one in which a lesbian's wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, and another about an ambitious sexbot.” —Electric Literature, "65 Queer Books You Need to Read in Summer 2024"

From the Publisher