Allison Epstein

Allison Epstein earned her MFA in fiction from Northwestern University and a BA in creative writing from the University of Michigan. A Michigan native, she now lives in Chicago, where she enjoys good theater, bad puns, and fancy jackets.

Epstein is the author of historical novels including A Tip for the Hangman, Let the Dead Bury the Dead, and Fagin the Thief.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Epstein's reply:

I’ve had Rita Chang-Eppig’s Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea on my nightstand for a while now, but I was saving it for a rainy day because I knew I’d absolutely love it. Reader, I wasn't wrong—this book is stellar. It’s a historical novel about the famous 19th century Chinese pirate Shek Yeung (also known as Zheng Yi Sao or Ching Shih), and it’s immersive and exciting and full of morally complicated characters doing the best they can for themselves in an unfair world. Also, to reiterate: 19th century Chinese lady pirate. Need I say more? Surely I needn’t.

Another recent favorite was Kelsey Rae Dimberg’s Snake Oil, which I inhaled in a single weekend. It’s a scam-centric thriller of sorts set in the contemporary wellness industry, following a “gatekeep gaslight girlboss” type of CEO who tries to hold her supplements company together while an employee on the inside works to expose the whole enterprise as a scam. Murder and drama ensue, because of course they do. If you, like me, are constantly scrolling every streaming service looking for a new docuseries to fill the hole that the Elizabeth Holmes saga left in your heart, pick this up immediately.

Next on my nightstand is Private Rites by Julia Armfield. I’m obsessed with her previous book, Our Wives Under the Sea, and this new one is profoundly up my alley. It’s a queer retelling of King Lear, following three sisters cleaning out the house of their father, a notoriously difficult-to-live-with architect, after his death. With so many of my favorite literary elements packed into the blurb alone—Shakespeare, retellings, queer narratives, a shocking discovery in a will, spooky weather—I have no doubt I'll love this.

Visit Allison Epstein's website.

My Book, The Movie: A Tip for the Hangman.

The Page 69 Test: A Tip for the Hangman.

Q&A with Allison Epstein.

My Book, The Movie: Let the Dead Bury the Dead.

The Page 69 Test: Let the Dead Bury the Dead.

Writers Read: Allison Epstein (October 2023).

--Marshal Zeringue