by John Waters
First published 2025
Peggy stands at her kitchen window, suburban life crumbling around her as her mental health spirals toward complete breakdown. The frazzled housewife makes a desperate choice: she abandons her home with Grizelda, her loyal maid turned accomplice. Their escape leads them to Mortville, a ramshackle settlement where society dumps its unwanted. Here, the tyrannical Queen Carlotta holds absolute power, strutting through makeshift streets while tormenting her downtrodden subjects. Peggy discovers that fleeing suburban conformity has landed her in something far worse. Waters crafts a twisted fable that skewers the mythology of American success, exposing how dreams of prosperity mask deeper rot. This savage comedy dissects suburban respectability, class divisions, and the ways power corrupts even the most desperate communities. At its heart lies a raw examination of what happens when the promise of the good life becomes a trap.
Genres: fiction, dystopia, satire
Vibes: dark, gritty, thought-provoking
Tropes: escape, fish-out-of-water, social-outcasts
Setting: Mortville, Suburbs
Period: 20th-century
96 pages · Paperback · Picador
Content warnings: mental-illness, violence