Sedating Elaine

Elaine whittered and bored her with stories and thoughts and endless enthusiasm. A letter had arrived which had so occupied her mind, she had managed to survive the whole ordeal ­brunch, shopping, drinks, the movies ­so utterly consumed with worry that Elaine might as well not have been there. It said a lot about Elaine that she had not noticed anything was wrong. Even as they had tumbled through the door and Elaine had scooped up Frances and spun her round, because Elaine seemed to live in a permanent Lindy hop, Frances eyes had landed repeatedly on the letter, propped up against an empty picture frame on the hallway sideboard, so that as she went round and round, looking over Elaine s shoulder, she saw it repeatedly, like a message flashing before her: You re fucked. You re fucked. You re fucked. She was amazed ­proud, even ­that she had managed to concentrate enough to have sex but, to be fair, her body and tongue were so well trained she could have done it semiconscious. She had done so many times before.

Elaine poked Frances with her big toe. You don t seem fine, she sagely observed. What s wrong?

Oh, where to begin? Frances sighed theatrically. She most certainly was not going to confide in Elaine about her problems, not when Elaine was a problem in herself, another issue Frances had been trying to sort out. Elaine was of course completely unaware that Frances had been thinking of dumping her, that she had in fact tried many times, but somehow it always went wrong. They would meet in a pub or a park and Frances would steel herself, take a deep breath, and say the words, Look, Elaine, we need to talk, but Elaine either moc

"Brash and engaging."
Kirkus

Winter s sharp debut blends humor and emotional reflections with an exploration of trauma, substance abuse, and dysfunctional relationships Written in moving and candid prose, this takes an unflinching look at what troubled people are capable of, and what they might need to be healed. The result is amusing and touching in equal parts.
Publishers Weekly

"Electric prose paired with a sharp-edged wit, on its surface Sedating Elaine is an off-kilter bop that will make you sweat and flip pages. However, the true victory of Winter's debut is its unblinking desire to capture humanity in all its crooked beauty. Frances is a narrator who reminds us to look past people's rough exteriors and consider their vulnerable insides."
Jean Kyoung Frazier, author of Pizza Girl
 
Sedating Elaine is a delightfully unhinged romp through romantic debacle, jaw-dropping decisions, and an emotional quagmire of guilt and longing. In this deft debut, Dawn Winters has created a modern, madcap comedy of errors that ultimately offers a touching lesson in forgiveness. Utterly bonkers and as darkly comic as it gets, Sedating Elaine is a brilliant, bingeable read.
Rachel Yoder, author of Nightbitch

Sedating Elaine is a brilliantly quirky, surreally funny story of a woman who comes up with the craziest idea ever for clearing her debts. In Frances, Dawn Winter has created an intriguingly headstrong yet vulnerable character with an astonishing talent for making the worst possible life-decisions. I laughed, cringed and held on to the edge of my seat as Frances hare-brained scheme hurtled along like a runaway train heading for a precipice. A thoroughly entertaining read!
Sarah Haywood, author of the bestselling Reese s Book Club Pick The Cactus
 
Sharply observed, morally chaotic, in moments both madcap and elegiac, Sedating Elaine does the surprising work of putting human emotional damage on display first for laughs, and then for love, if the reader s heart can bear it.
Rufi Thorpe, author of The Knockout Queen
 
Sedating Elaine is a tasty caffeinated jolt that grabs you from page one and races you to a surprisingly moving conclusion I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Dawn Winter's dazzling wit is beautifully coupled with a natural ability to explore difficult themes like loss and forgiveness. A winning debut.
Steven Rowley, bestselling author of The Editor and The Guncle   
 
Sedating Elaine has everything I crave in a novel: a delightfully subversive premise; a narrator with her life in shambles; and a voice that crackles with heart and wit. What really kept me turning the pages, though, was Winter's unexpected and poignant look at loss and grief. I loved this book."
Grant Ginder, author of The People We Hate at the Wedding and Let s Not Do That Again