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The Vulnerables
On sale
7th November 2023
Price: £24.99
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Audiobook Downloadable / ISBN-13: 9781405559034
‘A sharp-eyed and tender novel about human connection in a time of crisis’ (PAULA HAWKINS) from the bestselling, National Book Award-winning author of The Friend
CHOSEN AS A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE IRISH TIMES, VOGUE, HARPER’S BAZAAR, NPR AND KIRKUS
‘Once you discover Sigrid Nunez, you don’t look back’ ANNE ENRIGHT
‘Beautiful and profound’ MEG MASON
‘Full of alive, curious poetry on the chaotic times we live in’ SHEENA PATEL, author of I’m a Fan
‘I am committed, until one of us dies, to Nunez’s novels. They are short, wise, provocative, funny’ NEW YORK TIMES
Three strangers are thrown together in one Manhattan apartment: a solitary writer; a Gen Z college drop-out; and a spirited parrot named Eureka.
As the world outside descends into turmoil, the three of them must learn how to live with and care for one another. The Vulnerables reveals what happens when strangers are willing to open their hearts to each other and how far even small acts of caring can go to ease another’s distress.
‘A must-read about unlikely friendships’ SUNDAY TIMES STYLE
‘Cracks open windows and offers a reassuring breeze, reminding us that it’s OK – and perhaps even necessary – to need each other; it’s only human’ SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
‘One of my favourite authors’ NATALIE PORTMAN
‘Fresh, funny and very now’ BIDISHA
‘A breath of fresh air for a time when it still sometimes feels there isn’t any’ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
A Most Anticipated Book In:
The New York Times
The Washington Post
Elle
Time
Shondaland
Good Housekeeping
The Millions
W Magazine
Town & Country
Literary Hub
AP News
Southern Living
Publishers Lunch
CHOSEN AS A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE IRISH TIMES, VOGUE, HARPER’S BAZAAR, NPR AND KIRKUS
‘Once you discover Sigrid Nunez, you don’t look back’ ANNE ENRIGHT
‘Beautiful and profound’ MEG MASON
‘Full of alive, curious poetry on the chaotic times we live in’ SHEENA PATEL, author of I’m a Fan
‘I am committed, until one of us dies, to Nunez’s novels. They are short, wise, provocative, funny’ NEW YORK TIMES
Three strangers are thrown together in one Manhattan apartment: a solitary writer; a Gen Z college drop-out; and a spirited parrot named Eureka.
As the world outside descends into turmoil, the three of them must learn how to live with and care for one another. The Vulnerables reveals what happens when strangers are willing to open their hearts to each other and how far even small acts of caring can go to ease another’s distress.
‘A must-read about unlikely friendships’ SUNDAY TIMES STYLE
‘Cracks open windows and offers a reassuring breeze, reminding us that it’s OK – and perhaps even necessary – to need each other; it’s only human’ SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
‘One of my favourite authors’ NATALIE PORTMAN
‘Fresh, funny and very now’ BIDISHA
‘A breath of fresh air for a time when it still sometimes feels there isn’t any’ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
A Most Anticipated Book In:
The New York Times
The Washington Post
Elle
Time
Shondaland
Good Housekeeping
The Millions
W Magazine
Town & Country
Literary Hub
AP News
Southern Living
Publishers Lunch
Newsletter Signup
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Reviews
Nunez is a master at writing vivid characters in ordinary situations and bringing them to life, making every page fly by. And The Vulnerables is no different - it's a poignant and deft portrayal of humanity in a time when nothing felt normal
A breath of fresh air for a time when it still sometimes feels like there isn't any
Nunez's writing seems always to be just what I need. The Vulnerables is a gorgeous book on ageing and regret and, as is often the case, on writing. Nunez is always posing controversial questions or ideas and leaving the reader to make up their mind. I loved it
I am committed, until one of us dies, to Nunez's novels. I find them ideal. They are short, wise, provocative, funny - good and strong company
One of my favourite authors
Nunez's voice is unflinching and intimate
It is exciting to read a book that manages to be so honest and serious, and at the same time so playful and witty
Sigrid Nunez is on a roll. She's tapped into a smart, wry voice which feels right for our times, as do her concerns with friendship, empathy, loss, and loneliness
Hilarious and deeply reflective
Spare and understated and often quite funny, the experience is less like reading fiction than like eavesdropping on someone else's brain . . . despite the grimness of the setting, the novel itself is strangely, sweetly hopeful; there is, it seems, a reason to go on. Sharp-and surprisingly tender.
Nunez has a wry compassion, and an eye for the kind of detail only grown-ups can catch. The books feel lived-in rather than hard-earned, the voice is smart and kind
What's consistent across Nunez's books is their searching tone about the biggest of life's questions
Nunez's rare ability to be at once wistfully elegiac and sharply hilarious make The Vulnerables a gift
Sigrid Nunez is the godmother of contemplating empathy and connection ...A novel that cracks open windows and offers a reassuring breeze, reminding us that it's OK - and perhaps even necessary - to need each other; it's only human
Nunez's prose itself comforts us. Her confident and direct style uplifts-the music in her sentences, her deep and varied intelligence. She addresses important ideas unpretentiously and offers wisdom for any aspiring writer
With the intimacy and humour of a great conversation, this novel makes you feel smarter and more alive
The Vulnerables is full of alive, curious poetry on the chaotic times we live in
Nunez gracefully leaps from big emotions, including grief, to erudite literary digressions or biting wit
Sigrid Nunez is a beautiful storyteller: there's beauty, depth, lightness and whimsy in her writing. But what I most admired was her confidence to be playful and inventive. The Vulnerables is clever, refreshing and fulfilling to read
What Nunez is trying to do instead is find meaning, to understand. What this feels like is an eventful, rich, addictive conversation with your smartest, funniest and most well-read friend. Except, Nunez says, the conversation takes on new dimensions and new textures when it's written down
Funny and thoughtful ... Nunez manages to make a story of mortality go down easy
Beautiful and profound
Sigrid Nunez has a talent for slim, companionable novels that have both delicacy and power
New work from Sigrid Nunez is always a cause for celebration-and I'm thrilled to dive into her latest, The Vulnerables, a book about pandemic isolation, the pursuit of art, and the importance of connection in a turbulent reality
A sharp-eyed and tender novel about human connection in a time of crisis. As compassionate as it is disquieting, and as funny as it is painfully honest
Grounded in an unexpected friendship between an abandoned bird and a lonely, older novelist, The Vulnerables finds new ways to expound on themes of community, companionship, and finding hope in seemingly hopeless situations
Long live Sigrid Nunez
It's fresh, it's funny and it's very now. It has humour and honesty in spades, both wielded in self-defence against a world that feels off-kilter and almost absurd in its terribleness, from the gig economy to the Trump 'phenomenon', from creative frustration to urban burnout. I love Sigrid's clarity and quick expression, along with her quirky range of interests, her economy and lightness of touch
Once you discover Sigrid Nunez, you don't look back
Smart and sad and funny