we were pretending, a novel
“This deeply pleasurable, shape-shifting book -- a utopian novel masquerading as a friendship novel masquerading as a thriller -- confirms Hannah Gersen as one of our finest contemporary writers, as attuned to natural ecosystems as she is to human nervous systems in this time of planetary change. A marvel.” - Katherine Hill, author of A Short Move
“A gorgeous, utterly original novel about what it means to be human in an age of climate anxiety and grief. This book takes you places you didn’t know you needed to go, stirring up deep love for its characters and our precious planet along the way. Adventuresome, lyrical, and inspiring, We Were Pretending is the perfect antidote to our hectic day-to-day.” Jennifer Acker, author of The Limits of the World
home field, a novel
“Gersen’s characters are so full, so gently flawed, and so deeply human that it’s nearly impossible to resist falling into their world, with all its sorrow and all its subtle joy. A moving all-American family saga; fiction’s answer to Friday Night Lights.” -Kirkus Reviews
“This is a deeply felt novel that both moved and entertained me, and I didn’t want to stop reading it. An auspicious debut by a talented and wise writer.” -Edan Lepucki, author of New York Times bestseller California
Thelma and Alice
I write a monthly newsletter called Thelma and Alice, which recommends movies made by women. (It started as a blog, now it’s a newsletter.) The name Thelma and Alice is a nod to the feminist classic, Thelma & Louise. Thelma refers to Thelma Schoonmaker, Martin Scorsese’s legendary and indispensable film editor; Alice to Alice Guy-Blaché, who was not only the first female film director, but may have been the first person, man or woman to direct narrative film.
I also review movies for The Common. You can read some of my reviews here.
Click here to subscribe to the Thelma and Alice newsletter. Every month you'll get 4-5 short and sweet film recommendations sent to your inbox, all of them written, directed, or produced by women.
Hannah Gersen is the author of Home Field and We Were Pretending. Her fiction has been published most recently in Electric Lit, Visions, The Southern Review, and New England Review. Her essays and criticism have appeared in The New York Times, Poets & Writers Magazine, LitHub, Granta, and The Los Angeles Review of Books, among others. She reviews movies for The Common, and writes a monthly newsletter, Thelma and Alice, which recommends films made by women. She lives in Brunswick, Maine, with her family.
Photo by Zoé Fisher