A Novel Obsession

　　為了寫出完美的小說，她開始跟蹤起男友的前女友⋯⋯
 
　　Naomi Ackerman是住在紐約的24歲書籍採購，一直很想寫本新書，但苦無沒有任何點子。最近她在經歷無數次慘痛的約會後，總算交了個新男友，帶著英國威爾斯地區口音的Caleb，從事災害模型建置，是位能接受Naomi怪僻的完美對象。就在Naomi認為自己總算能夠品嘗愛情這偉大的滋味時，Caleb的前女友Rosemary卻意外闖入了這段關係。
 
　　Rosemary和Naomi算是同業，曾擔任不少書籍的編輯，這讓Naomi開始對這位前女友感到無比好奇，不禁思索兩人除了工作領域、喜歡的男人類型，是否彼此間還有其他共通之處呢？一開始她也只是刷刷Rosemary的IG，但慢慢地線上資料似乎已經不足夠滿足她的好奇心，於是Naomi進一步策劃了一連串的巧遇、開始約對方一同玩抱石，隨著交情見長，Rosemary便成為了她的「知心好友」，也同時成為了她筆下新故事的角色。距離她期待的新作品面世，似乎越來越近⋯⋯然而就在此同時，Naomi建構出的半真半假謊言開始失控，現實與假象間的界線變得模糊，要得到最完美的結局，Naomi必須挑出一個人當這故事中的犧牲者。

　　(文／博客來外文館)

A Good Morning America Buzz Pick, and a BuzzFeed and New York Post ＂Best Book of 2022＂

＂If you’ve ever felt tempted to ’keep tabs on’ a partner’s ex on Instagram and then found yourself down a rabbit hole of their vacation posts from three years ago, this debut novel--which follows a 24-year-old New Yorker named Naomi who becomes obsessed with her boyfriend’s former girlfriend--is for you.＂--Vogue, ＂Best New Beach Reads＂

Twenty-four-year-old New York bookseller Naomi Ackerman is desperate to write a novel, but struggles to find a story to tell. When, after countless disastrous dates, she meets Caleb--a perfectly nice guy with a Welsh accent and a unique patience for all her quirks--she thinks she’s finally stumbled onto a time-honored subject: love. Then Caleb’s ex-girlfriend, Rosemary, enters the scene.

Upon learning that Rosemary is not safely tucked away in Caleb’s homeland overseas, but in fact lives in New York and also works in the literary world, Naomi is threatened and intrigued in equal measure. If they both fell for the same man, what else might they have in common? The more Naomi learns about Rosemary, the more her curiosity consumes her. Before she knows it, her casual Instagram stalking morphs into a friendship under false pretenses--and becomes the subject of her nascent novel.

As her lies and half-truths spiral out of control, and fact and fiction become increasingly difficult to untangle, Naomi must decide what--and who--she’s willing to sacrifice to write the perfect ending.

Caitlin Barasch earned her BA from Colorado College and her MFA from New York University. Her work has appeared in more than a dozen publications, including Catapult, Day One, The Forge, and Hobart. A former bookseller, Caitlin currently teaches creative writing at the Writers Circle. She was born and raised in New York and now lives in Brooklyn. A Novel Obsession is her debut novel.