Jenny Mustard

An ingenious contemporary nod to Tolstoy's classic ... A gripping psychological exploration of family trauma, high-society performance and the devastating cost of self-alienation

A novel of rare emotional intensity ... Bold, modern, unsettling and exquisitely rendered. An exceptional achievement

Heady and addictive yet surprisingly tender ... There were echoes of Raven Leilani, Natalia Ginzburg and even Virginia Woolf. Karro is easily Mustard's masterpiece

In prose that simmers under perfect control, Karro unfolds brilliantly: each turn is assured, unhurried, and more perilous than the last ... An astonishing, immaculate study in appetite

Kimberley King Parsons, author of We Were the Universe

Mustard’s prose captures the effervescent and the luminescent, a joy to read and share

Bryan Washington, praise for What a Time to Be Alive

Mustard is a measured and gorgeous writer, in command of the senses in a way that makes the reader feel alive

The New York Times Book Review, praise for What a Time to Be Alive

Karro is on the cusp of her fortieth birthday and wants for nothing. She is mother to a beautiful son, wife to a rising star in British politics, heir to an esteemed Swedish publishing house, and moneyed enough to wile away her days at home in affluent Highgate, with literature (and the occasional dose of opium) for company. 
 
But then Karro is introduced to visiting American artist Won-sik, and falls for him entirely, embarking on an affair which will derail her sedate existence. The societal repercussions will be immediate and severe. As she confronts her own desires and abandons her son in a desperate pursuit of happiness, her world and her sense of self begin to unravel. 
 
Intelligent, sensual and searingly honest, Karro moves slickly between London, a Swedish archipelago, New York City, and the Côte d’Azur, and asks what it means to fall from grace in the twenty-first century. It paints a psychologically astute portrait of a woman trying – and failing – to find herself in motherhood, and forces us to weigh up our obligations to family, to society, and most importantly, to ourselves.

Jenny Mustard

Praise for Karro

An ingenious contemporary nod to Tolstoy's classic ... A gripping psychological exploration of family trauma, high-society performance and the devastating cost of self-alienation

A novel of rare emotional intensity ... Bold, modern, unsettling and exquisitely rendered. An exceptional achievement

Heady and addictive yet surprisingly tender ... There were echoes of Raven Leilani, Natalia Ginzburg and even Virginia Woolf. Karro is easily Mustard's masterpiece

An ingenious contemporary nod to Tolstoy's classic ... A gripping psychological exploration of family trauma, high-society performance and the devastating cost of self-alienation

A novel of rare emotional intensity ... Bold, modern, unsettling and exquisitely rendered. An exceptional achievement

Heady and addictive yet surprisingly tender ... There were echoes of Raven Leilani, Natalia Ginzburg and even Virginia Woolf. Karro is easily Mustard's masterpiece

An ingenious contemporary nod to Tolstoy's classic ... A gripping psychological exploration of family trauma, high-society performance and the devastating cost of self-alienation

A novel of rare emotional intensity ... Bold, modern, unsettling and exquisitely rendered. An exceptional achievement

Heady and addictive yet surprisingly tender ... There were echoes of Raven Leilani, Natalia Ginzburg and even Virginia Woolf. Karro is easily Mustard's masterpiece

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