A first novel about a young wife whose mysterious new job leads her deep into uncharted territory. In a windowless building in a remote part of town, a newly employed young woman, Josephine, inputs an endless string of numbers into something known only as The Database. As the days inch by and the files stack up, Josephine feels increasingly anxious in her surroundings-the office's scarred pinkish walls take on a lifelike quality, the drone of keyboards echoes eerily down the long halls. When one evening her husband Joseph disappears and doesn't return until the next day, offering no explanation as to his whereabouts, her creeping unease shifts decidedly to dread.
"clever and impossible to put down" - Los Angeles Times
"Equal parts mystery, thriller, and existential inquiry" - The New Republic
The Beautiful Bureaucrat is a novel of rare restraint and imagination from a brilliant talent on the rise.
About the Author
Helen Phillips is the award-winning author of the collections Some Possible Solutions and And Yet They Were Happy. Her work has appeared in Tin House, Electric Literature, and The New York Times. An assistant professor of creative writing at Brooklyn College, she lives in Brooklyn with her husband and children.
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