Jenny Mustard

A novel of rare emotional intensity—affecting and provocative. The narrative is immersive to the point of disorientation and I was completely drawn into the raw immediacy of Karro’s world. (At times, I found myself casting judgement, and was prompted to interrogate my own feminism, and what choice really means.) Karro is such a complex, flawed, and deeply human character and Mustard has excelled in crafting a protagonist who resists simplification and demands engagement. With notes of Jean Rhys and Ottessa Moshfegh, but this is singularly its own thing. An utterly controlled yet delightfully unhinged novel—it is bold, modern, unsettling, and exquisitely rendered. Karro is an exceptional achievement

A heady and addictive yet surprisingly tender reinvigoration of Tolstoy’s classic. The story unwinds with brilliant and precise clarity. As Karro’s so-called perfect life began to unravel I was entirely unable to look away. Mustard’s impeccable prose rings with sharp clarity like the unforgiving edge of a mirror shard held up to society. Mustard tackles taboos around motherhood and women’s choices, while expertly making the reader examine their own feminism. Still the writing was at times utterly heartrending and highly perceptive of a woman’s struggles with marriage, motherhood and life. There were echoes of Raven Leilani, Natalia Ginzburg and even Virginia Woolf. I was blown away. Karro is easily Mustard’s masterpiece

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

Set between the pristine townhouses of London and the haunting landscapes of Sweden, Karro is an ingenious contemporary nod to Tolstoy's classic. Jenny Mustard gives us a gripping psychological exploration of family trauma, high-society performance and the devastating cost of self-alienation

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

A novel of rare emotional intensity—affecting and provocative. The narrative is immersive to the point of disorientation and I was completely drawn into the raw immediacy of Karro’s world. (At times, I found myself ...

A heady and addictive yet surprisingly tender reinvigoration of Tolstoy’s classic. The story unwinds with brilliant and precise clarity. As Karro’s so-called perfect life began to unravel I was entirely unable to lo ...

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

A novel of rare emotional intensity—affecting and provocative. The narrative is immersive to the point of disorientation and I was completely drawn into the raw immediacy of Karro’s world. (At times, I found myself ...

A heady and addictive yet surprisingly tender reinvigoration of Tolstoy’s classic. The story unwinds with brilliant and precise clarity. As Karro’s so-called perfect life began to unravel I was entirely unable to lo ...

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

A novel of rare emotional intensity—affecting and provocative. The narrative is immersive to the point of disorientation and I was completely drawn into the raw immediacy of Karro’s world. (At times, I found myself ...

A heady and addictive yet surprisingly tender reinvigoration of Tolstoy’s classic. The story unwinds with brilliant and precise clarity. As Karro’s so-called perfect life began to unravel I was entirely unable to lo ...

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

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