Iodine »

First introducing herself to readers as "Zippy" in her breakout memoir, Haven Kimmel proved that she's more than a one-hit wonder by branching out into fiction and offering a sequel to Zippy for fans who couldn't get enough of her story. "If you took the complete works of E. B. White and put them in a blender with the essays of David Sedaris, you might end up with a delicious concoction close to the hilarious, irrepressible charm that is Haven Kimmel," notes Alison Smith, author of Name All the Animals.

Haven Kimmel, the #1 New York Times bestselling author, has long attracted legions of fans for her insightful, humane portraits of outsiders struggling to find their place in the world. In Iodine, her fourth novel, Kimmel once again draws on her exceptional powers of observation and empathy, but this time she makes an exhilarating foray into psychological gothic territory with the electrifying story of a young woman emerging from layers of delusion, fantasy, and lies. With her astounding intelligence, fierce independence, and otherworldly lavender eyes, college senior Trace Pennington makes an indelible impression even as questions about her past and her true identity hover over every page.

From her earliest years, Trace turned away from her abusive mother toward her loving father. Within the twisty logic of abuse, her desperate love for him took on a romantic cast that persists to this day, though she's had no contact with her family since she ran away from home years ago. Alone but for her beloved dog, she's eked out an impoverished but functional existence, living in an abandoned house, putting herself through college, and astonishing her teachers with her genius and erudition. What they don't know is that she leads a double life: thanks to forged documents, at school she is Ianthe Covington, a young woman with no past.

Trace's singular life is upended when she and her literature professor fall in love. She tells him nothing about her life, and as it becomes apparent that he has his own dark secrets, she's forced to face herself and her past. After recovering a horrific, long-suppressed memory, Trace finally copes with the fallout from her brutal, bizarrechildhood. Kimmel parcels out Trace's strange, dark story in mesmerizing bits that obscure as much as they reveal, and keep the reader guessing until the end.

With Kimmel's radiant imagination, lyrical prose, and vision of a bleak and fertile Midwest on full display, Iodine is a frightening and marvelous tale of life at the outer extremes of human experience. This unique portrait of the psychological effects of trauma is tantalizing, shocking, and ultimately hopeful.

Publishers Weekly

In her fourth novel, Kimmel (The Used World; A Girl Named Zippy; etc.) offers a beautifully wrought portrait of the brilliant and psychotic Trace Pennington, a runaway now scraping by in an Indiana farmhouse while completing her final year of college. Trace excels in school despite her abject poverty and seems destined to enter the world of academia. However, Trace is haunted by a disturbing personal history, hinted at via dreams, startling recollections and entries in her journal. Her idiosyncrasies and antisocial behavior intensify as her thoughts are increasingly intruded upon by an abusive past and complicated relationships with her family, and when Trace begins a relationship with the worldly Dr. Jacob Matthias, her inner life rapidly disintegrates into the surreal. Her fierce intelligence remains, and she battles her madness and dark memories by moving in and out of her own imaginings. Kimmel skillfully weaves together Trace's lucid moments and her diminishing sanity, providing a full picture of a troubled woman whose identity, past and present are repeatedly called into question. (Aug.)

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Chapter One: Two Dogs
Chapter Two: Caduceus
Chapter Three: Pluto
Chapter Four: Oneirocritica
Chapter Five: Puella Aeterna
Chapter Six: Revenants
Chapter Seven: Nekyia
Chapter Eight: Kerberos
Chapter Mine: Eros
Chapter Ten: Familiaris
Chapter Eleven: Hekate
Acknowledgments