by Miranda July
First published 2015
Cheryl is a middle-aged loner whose mundane life revolves around bizarre obsessions - from a neighbor's infant to a reclusive co-worker. When a young couple hires her to watch their newborn, Cheryl's carefully managed routines are upended. As her protective instincts emerge, she must choose: embrace this chance at connection or retreat further into her isolated world. Poignant and darkly funny, "The First Bad Man" is a mesmerizing portrait of one woman's fraught quest for meaning.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, psychological-thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, unreliable-narrator
276 pages · Paperback · Canongate Books Ltd.
Content warnings: mental-illness