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Out on 04 February 2027

Gym

Synopsis

A sweat-slicked, painfully funny novel about obsession, ambition and a woman’s doomed attempt to run from herself.

A woman walks into a gym and lies to get a job.

The gym is a palace of possibility. Here she can transform. Become unrecognizable.

No more presentations or promotions or emails.

She can push herself to her limits, then push past them. Lie some more. Perfect her body, and never lose control again.

And she can finally get her probation officer off her back.

But we can never really escape who we are. People start asking questions but she can’t let them take this new life from her. They obviously don’t know the things she’s capable of.

Details

04 February 2027
360 pages
9781037406829
Imprint: Picador

Reviews

Verena Kessler never tells stories with a raised finger; she does so lightly, amusingly, and comically, and quite wickedly . . . Truly magnificent!Christine Westermann, Christine Westermann
Maximum entertainment . . . This book goes down like a good techno spinning class: fast-paced, sweaty, and not a second too longThore Rausch, Thore Rausch
Kessler mercilessly holds a mirror up to everyone who knows ambition, doggedness, and the pressure to be perfect, driving her protagonist into a delusion from which there is no escape – #unhingedwomen at its bestLinn Könnecke, Linn Könnecke
In the mirrors of the mega-gym, we look ourselves in the eye. Verena Kessler tells the story of the abysses of our time in a way that is incredibly gripping, dazzling, and funnyRuth-Maria Thomas, Ruth-Maria Thomas