Intimacies

A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BOOK OF 2021 LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE 2021 READS AN INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER A BEST BOOK OF 2021 FROM Washington Post; Vogue; Time; Oprah Daily; New York Times; Los Angeles Times; San Francisco Chronicle; Atlantic; Kirkus and Entertainment Weekly “Intimacies is a haunting; precise; and morally astute novel that reads like a psychological thriller…. Katie Kitamura is a wonder.” —Dana Spiotta; author of Wayward and Eat the Document “One of the best novels I’ve read in 2021.” – Dwight Garner; The New York Times A novel from the author of A Separation; an electrifying story about a woman caught between many truths. An interpreter has come to The Hague to escape New York and work at the International Court. A woman of many languages and identities; she is looking for a place to finally call home. She's drawn into simmering personal dramas: her lover; Adriaan; is separated from his wife but still entangled in his marriage. Her friend Jana witnesses a seemingly random act of violence; a crime the interpreter becomes increasingly obsessed with as she befriends the victim's sister. And she's pulled into an explosive political controversy when she’s asked to interpret for a former president accused of war crimes. A woman of quiet passion; she confronts power; love; and violence; both in her personal intimacies and in her work at the Court. She is soon pushed to the precipice; where betrayal and heartbreak threaten to overwhelm her; forcing her to decide what she wants from her life.