Avalon

'A gorgeous love story and a hilarious political novel about precarity and abuse in the era of late capitalism.' Neel Mukherjee, author of Man Booker Prize-shortlisted The Lives of Others 'Zink's confidence and authority as a writer are evident from Avalon's killer first sentences.' LA Times Bran's Southern California upbringing is anything but traditional. After her mother abandons her and joins a Buddhist colony, Bran is raised by her 'common-law stepfather' on Bourdon Farms - a plant nursery that doubles as a cover for a biker gang. She spends her days tending plants, slogging through high school and imagining what life could be if she had been born to a different family. Then she meets Peter-a charming, troubled college student from the East Coast - who launches his teaching career by initiating her into the world of art. The two begin a seemingly doomed long-distance relationship as Bran searches for meaning in her own surroundings. She knows how to survive, but now she must learn how to live. 'Zink is a comic writer par excellence.' New Yorker 'An extraordinary talent.' Daily Telegraph