Berlin

Weird, compelling and unique: I was completely absorbed by BERLIN, with its slippery, unsettling narrator, its vivid evocation of a city seen through the troubling lens of disorientation, and by the writing itself, which gleamed.

Francesca Reece, author of VOYEUR

Uncommonly funny, cinematically vivid, and refreshingly honest about how we deceive others and ourselves.

Lisa Halliday, author of ASYMMETRY

I loved this novel with its complex, flawed and fascinating heroine. Bea Setton presents us with a vivid and youthful depiction of one of my favourite cities in the world. A wonderful achievement.

Nick Bradley, author of THE CAT AND THE CITY

Berlin made me laugh aloud, and then became strangely and compellingly dark. I loved it.

Louisa Reid, author of THE POET

Scintillating . . . Berlin is wonderfully funny, and Daphne's observations about modern life, men and the challenges facing young women always hit the nail

FINANCIAL TIMES

[An] engagingly self-conscious debut . . . our attention is firmly held by the wry wit of Daphne's voice, as well as regular hints that she's something of an unreliable narrator . . . the book's success lies chiefly in its line by-line charm

DAILY MAIL

Anyone who's started over in a new city -- let alone a new country -- will relate . . . One for Sally Rooney fans

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Intimate, confessional . . . Rich and rewarding . . . readers will leave eager to hear more from Bea Setton.

CultureFly

Setton builds her growing paranoia and sense of dread to terrific effect in this unsettling, compelling read.

OBSERVER

Bea Setton's luminous drama will keep you on your toes with razor-sharp wit

WOMAN'S OWN

Enjoyable and astutue . . . Daphne's impressions are rendered in precise, lively prose

Rob Doyle, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

It's uncomfortable, it's telling, it's interesting, it's thought-provoking, just everything . . . it really delivered

The Quick Book Review Podcast

Bea Setton's scathing portrait of expat life traps her protagonist in layers of self-deception . . . an astute accounting of a young woman's checkered struggle to change her life

Nell Zink, author of AVALON

Shines an unsparing light on the murky grey space of a woman's mid-twenties with a narrative voice that's sharp, wry, and unexpectedly tender

Isabel Kaplan, author of NOT SAFE FOR WORK

A compelling, raw, and thrillingly strange outsider tale of loneliness and deception. Setton is a wonderful writer who, with this sharp debut, adds to the great canon of contemporary anti-heroines.

Mona Awad, author of BUNNY

Bea Setton's narrator Daphne, full of quirky observations, incisive humour, and a winning vulnerability, is a delight to chase through Berlin. Although I couldn't always decide whether I wanted to scold her, shake her, or join her, I know I'll never forget her.

Beth Ann Fennelly, author of THE TILTED WORLD

In this dark and twisty debut, Setton crafts a clever thriller-cum-expat narrative for fans of Ottessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation . . . Setton expertly portrays the wily, seductive nature of addictions and dysfunctions . . . Daphne's youthful despair and loneliness are horror stories in and of themselves-ones from which it is hard to look away, especially when coupled with the evocative German setting. . . Raw thriller meets darkly funny coming-of-age for an enjoyable, unsettling debut.

KIRKUS

A moving and rollicking tale of self-delusion...Setton proves herself a masterful and hilarious chronicler of contemporary life...Well-plotted while still capturing the meandering feeling of Daphne's unbound life, and with deliciously handled foreshadowing, Setton's sharp novel of stunted plans is compulsively readable and ultimately devastating. This isn't one to miss.

Publishers Weekly

Cinematic and confessional . . . Berlin is a Woolfian mirror: Red herrings and cliffhangers stoke interest by conforming to expectations, until the novel undercuts them with digressions and anticlimaxes, reveling in its own formal impunity. . . electric.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Written in funny, punchy vignettes perfect for consumption between U-Bahn stops, and a few hours in the presence of Daphne Ferber pay generous spiritual dividends.

WASHINGTON POST

Combining the darkness of a thriller with humour, Bea Setton's debut is a fresh and deeply honest take on the modern female experience

STYLIST