Women Without Men

This sharp, emotionally raw novel dissects love, betrayal, and queer identity with the intimacy of Megan Nolan and the unflinching honesty of Gabrielle Zevin 

Elisenda’s carefully constructed world collapses when her partner leaves her—for a man.

“I thought she was one of us: a woman without men. Until one day she told me:
‘I slept with someone else.’
‘What?’
‘A man,’ she clarified, almost as if intending to hurt me.”

This betrayal shatters Elisenda’s identity and forces her to revisit her past— from her adolescence to her six-year relationship with Tina—and to unravel the roots of her pain. Elisenda is also the daughter of Margarida Pons, a celebrated writer with whom she shared a strained relationship. Following her mother’s death, Elisenda struggles with an emotional block she can only confront through books. Yet, even as time passes, the answers she seeks remain out of reach—perhaps hidden in her mother’s writings, in the mysterious golden eyed girl she meets on the train, or in the enigmatic cat that frequently visits her.