Self Portrait with Boy

Rachel Lyon's first novel – soon to be made into a major motion picture starring Zoë Kravitz and Thomasin McKenzie

Lu Rile is a relentlessly focused young photographer struggling to make ends meet. Working three jobs, and worrying that the crumbling warehouse she lives in is being sold to developers, she is at a point of desperation. Until, by pure chance, Lu discovers she’s captured a tragedy in the background of a self portrait; a boy falling to his death. The photograph turns out to be the best work of art she’s ever made. It’s an image that could change her life – if she lets it.

Set in early 90s Brooklyn on the brink of gentrification, Self-Portrait with Boy is a provocative commentary about the emotional
dues that must be paid on the road to success.

‘Beautifully imagined and flawlessly executed’ Joyce Carol Oates

‘A sparkling debut’ New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Rachel Lyon is the author of Fruit of the Dead and Self-Portrait with Boy, a finalist for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. Her short stories have appeared in One Story, The Rumpus, Electric Literature, and other publications. A teacher of creative writing at various institutions, most recently Bennington College, Rachel lives in western Massachusetts with her husband and two young children.