New York, NY: Hogarth (May 3, 2022)

Hardback.

As new in dust jacket.

ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022—BuzzFeed, Vogue, Electric Lit, The Millions, Lit Hub

A provocative debut of sex and sexuality—“depicting the liquid frequencies of need and power with a thoughtful, savage eye” (Raven Leilani, author of Luster)—as a twentysomething New Yorker pursues a sexual freedom that follows no other lines than her own desire.

Eve has an adoring girlfriend, an impulsive streak, and a secret fear that she’s wasting her brief youth with just one person. So one evening she posts some nudes online. This is how Eve meets Olivia, and through Olivia the charismatic Nathan. Despite her better instincts, the three soon begin a relationship—one that disturbs Eve as much as it enthralls her.

As each act of their affair unfolds, Eve is forced to confront the questions that trouble her the most: What does sex mean to us? How do we reconcile what we want with what we believe we should want? And when we pursue our desires, to whom are we responsible? For Eve, there are no easy answers, only a continual discovery that is both cruel and joyful. In the way that only great fiction can, Acts of Service takes between its teeth the contradictions written all over our ideas of sex and sexuality.

At once juicy and intellectually challenging, sacred and profane, Lillian Fishman’s riveting debut is bold, unabashed, and required reading of the most pleasurable sort.

Lillian Fishman received her MFA from NYU, where she was a Jill Davis Fellow. She lives in New York. Acts of Service is her first novel.