The Blondes is a hilarious and whipsmart novel where an epidemic of a rabies-like disease is carried only by blonde women, all of whom must go to great lengths to conceal their blondness.
Hazel Hayes is a grad student living in New York City. As the novel opens, she learns she is pregnant (from an affair with her married professor) at an apocalyptically bad time: random but deadly attacks on passers-by, all by blonde women, are terrorizing New Yorkers. Soon it becomes clear that the attacks are symptoms of a strange illness that is transforming blondes--whether CEOs, flight attendants, students or accountants--into rabid killers.
Emily Schultz's beautifully realized novel is a mix of satire, thriller, and serious literary work. With echoes of Blindness and The Handmaid's Tale amplified by a biting satiric wit, The Blondes is at once an examination of the complex relationships between women, and a merciless but giddily enjoyable portrait of what happens in a world where beauty is--literally--deadly.
Industry Reviews
Praise for Emily Schultz "EMILY SCHULTZ IS MY NEW HERO." --STEPHEN KING on Emily Schultz"LIKE THE LITERARY LOVE CHILD OF NAOMI WOLF AND STEPHEN KING, The Blondes examines our cultural attitudes about beauty through the lens of a post-9/11, high-alert nightmare. The result is a SPELLBINDING brew, both satirical and deeply satisfying." --Helene Wecker, author of The Golem and the Jinni"Sharp and fluid and legitimately disturbing. A THINKING PERSON'S NAILBITER." --Ben Lorry, author of Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day"The Blondes is intelligent, MESMERIZING, and fearless. An entirely original and beautifully twisted satire with a heart of darkness." --Emily St. John Mandel, author of The Lola Quartet"An energetic, startling novel. Emily Schultz is a writer with a deadly sense of humor. YOU LAUGH ONE MOMENT, YOU'RE FRIGHTENED THE NEXT. As unsettling as it is funny, The Blondes had me hooked from an early line: The neighbors have finished burning the hair... How could anybody not read on from there?" --Peter Orner, author of Last Car Over the Sagamore Bridge"Emily Schultz gives new meaning to the term 'femme fatale' in her apocalyptic, darkly satirical new novel... A gripping and unsettling story...It's a scarily realistic state of affairs." --The Toronto Star"The Blondes takes you by surprise and keeps on surprising." --Andrew Pyper, author of The Demonologist"A nail-biter that is equal parts suspense, science fiction, and a funny, dark sendup of the stranglehold of gender." --Kirkus Reviews (Starred)"Suspenseful, ferociously clever, exceedingly well written, poignant and hilarious." --Booklist (Starred)"Genre and fans of feminist horror will welcome Emily Schultz' skin-crawling, Cronenbergian satire The Blondes, a horror story offering a refreshingly feminine spin to the ever-expanding pool of apocalyptic fiction." --Rue Morgue"Fast-paced drama, punctuated with humor...Schultz writes a subtle commentary on how discrimination operates around the globe." --Shelf Awareness"Schultz spins an eerie tale with perspective into our cultural attitudes about beauty." --Entertainment Weekly"Emily Shultz balances biting humor and thrilling suspense in a complex story." --US Weekly"What started out as a pseudo zombie-tale is now also a road story, and a feminist bildungsroman, and a parable about prejudice and reproductive freedom and immigration" --The Los Angeles Times EMILY SCHULTZ IS MY NEW HERO. STEPHEN KING on Emily Schultz LIKE THE LITERARY LOVE CHILD OF NAOMI WOLF AND STEPHEN KING, "The Blondes" examines our cultural attitudes about beauty through the lens of a post-9/11, high-alert nightmare. The result is a SPELLBINDING brew, both satirical and deeply satisfying. Helene Wecker, author of "The Golem and the Jinni" Sharp and fluid and legitimately disturbing. A THINKING PERSON'S NAILBITER. Ben Lorry, author of "Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day" "The Blondes" is intelligent, MESMERIZING, and fearless. An entirely original and beautifully twisted satire with a heart of darkness. Emily St. John Mandel, author of "The Lola Quartet" An energetic, startling novel. Emily Schultz is a writer with a deadly sense of humor. YOU LAUGH ONE MOMENT, YOU'RE FRIGHTENED THE NEXT. As unsettling as it is funny, "The Blondes" had me hooked from an early line: The neighbors have finished burning the hair... How could anybody not read on from there? Peter Orner, author of Last Car Over the Sagamore Bridge Emily Schultz gives new meaning to the term 'femme fatale' in her apocalyptic, darkly satirical new novel... A gripping and unsettling story...It's a scarily realistic state of affairs. "The Toronto Star" "The Blondes" takes you by surprise and keeps on surprising. Andrew Pyper, author of The Demonologist A nail-biter that is equal parts suspense, science fiction, and a funny, dark sendup of the stranglehold of gender. "Kirkus Reviews" (Starred) Suspenseful, ferociously clever, exceedingly well written, poignant and hilarious. "Booklist (Starred)" Genre and fans of feminist horror will welcome Emily Schultz' skin-crawling, Cronenbergian satire "The Blondes," a horror story offering a refreshingly feminine spin to the ever-expanding pool of apocalyptic fiction. "Rue Morgue" Fast-paced drama, punctuated with humor...Schultz writes a subtle commentary on how discrimination operates around the globe. "Shelf Awareness" Schultz spins an eerie tale with perspective into our cultural attitudes about beauty. "Entertainment Weekly" Emily Shultz balances biting humor and thrilling suspense in a complex story. "US Weekly" What started out as a pseudo zombie-tale is now also a road story, and a feminist bildungsroman, and a parable about prejudice and reproductive freedom and immigration "The Los Angeles Times"" "The Blondes" is intelligent, mesmerizing, and fearless. An entirely original and beautifully twisted satire with a heart of darkness. Emily St. John Mandel, author of "Station Eleven" Emily Schultz is my new hero. Stephen King Fast-paced drama, punctuated with humor . . . Schultz writes a subtle commentary on how discrimination operates around the globe. "Shelf Awareness" Schultz spins an eerie tale with perspective into our cultural attitudes about beauty. "Entertainment Weekly" Emily Schultz balances biting humor and thrilling suspense in a complex story. "US Weekly" What started out as a pseudo zombie-tale is now also a road story, and a feminist bildungsroman, and a parable about prejudice and reproductive freedom and immigration. "Los Angeles Times"" EMILY SCHULTZ IS MY NEW HERO. "STEPHEN KING" LIKE THE LITERARY LOVE CHILD OF NAOMI WOLF AND STEPHEN KING, The Blondes examines our cultural attitudes about beauty through the lens of a post-9/11, high-alert nightmare. The result is a SPELLBINDING brew, both satirical and deeply satisfying. "Helene Wecker, author of The Golem and the Jinni" Sharp and fluid and legitimately disturbing. A THINKING PERSON'S NAILBITER. "Ben Lorry, author of Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day" The Blondes is intelligent, MESMERIZING, and fearless. An entirely original and beautifully twisted satire with a heart of darkness. "Emily St. John Mandel, author of The Lola Quartet" An energetic, startling novel. Emily Schultz is a writer with a deadly sense of humor. YOU LAUGH ONE MOMENT, YOU'RE FRIGHTENED THE NEXT. As unsettling as it is funny, The Blondes had me hooked from an early line: The neighbors have finished burning the hair... How could anybody not read on from there? "Peter Orner, author of Last Car Over the Sagamore Bridge" Emily Schultz gives new meaning to the term femme fatale' in her apocalyptic, darkly satirical new novel A gripping and unsettling story It's a scarily realistic state of affairs. "The Toronto Star" The Blondes takes you by surprise and keeps on surprising. "Andrew Pyper, author of The Demonologist""
