Ecstasy - Hardcover

by Ivy Pochoda (Author)

"Quick, bloody fun . . . [If] you can't make it to Mykonos or Corfu for parties this summer, this book may be the next best thing"--The Wall Street Journal

Lena wants her life back. Her wealthy, controlling, humorless husband has just died, and now she is forced to contend with her controlling, humorless son, Drew. With no other option, Lena lands in Naxos with her best friend in tow for the unveiling of her son's pet project--the luxurious Agape Villas.

Years spent among the wealthy elite have whittled Lena's spirit into rope and sinew, smothered by tasteful cocktail dresses and unending small talk, but on Naxos she yearns to rediscover her true nature--remember the exuberant party girl she once was. But Drew tightens his grip, keeping her cloistered inside the hotel, demanding that she fall in line.

Still, Lena is intrigued by a group of women living in tents on the beach in front of the Agape. She can feel their drums at night, hear their seductive leader calling her to dance. Soon she'll find that an ancient god stirs on the beach, awakening dark desires of women across the island. The only questions left will be whether Lena will join them, and what it will cost her.

Ecstasy is a riveting, darkly poetic, one-sitting read about empowerment, desire, and what happens when women reject the roles set out for them.

Author Biography

Ivy Pochoda is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Wonder Valley, Visitation Street, These Women, and Sing Her Down which won the LA Times Book Prize. She won the 2018 Strand Critics Award for Best Novel and the Prix Page America in France, and has been a finalist for the the Edgar Award, among other awards. For many years, Ivy has led a creative writing workshop in Skid Row Los Angeles where she helped found Skid Row Zine. She is currently a professor of creative writing at the University of California Riverside-Palm Desert low-residency MFA program. She lives in Los Angeles.