Happiest of book birthdays to Throw Down Your Shadows by Deborah Hemming, out now from Nimbus Publishing!
“In her compelling debut, Deborah Hemming has written a haunting and moving story alight with memorable characters. Compulsively readable right to the shocking conclusion, I was completely enthralled with this novel.” –Nina Berkhout, author of The Mosaic
Sixteen-year-old Winnie is a creature of habit, a lover of ritual and stability. If she had her way, not much would change. But when a new family moves to town, Winnie and her three best friends—all boys—find themselves changing quickly and dramatically to impress Caleb, their strange and charismatic new companion. Under Caleb’s influence, Winnie and her friends test boundaries, flirt with danger, and in the end, illuminate darkness within each other and themselves. Following a before and after structure that pivots around a mysterious and devastating fire at a local winery, Throw Down Your Shadows is a compelling exploration of the contours of young friendship and the development of powerful new appetites. Reminiscent of The Girls by Emma Cline and Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler, this literary coming-of-age story feeds a growing demand in adult fiction for candid portrayals of the young female experience as complex and provocative, and announces a bold new voice in Canadian fiction.
Deborah Hemming lives and writes in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. She holds an MA in English from McGill University, a BA in English from the University of King’s College, and an MLIS from Dalhousie University. Throw Down Your Shadows is her first novel. Deborah is represented by Stephanie Sinclair.