I will have another book published this year—a novel! I’ve been cultivating this behind-the-scenes for years, and I’m so thrilled and relieved to finally see this project manifest. The novel is called VERNAL THAW: A Novel of Love at a Slant, published this spring by Set Margins’ Press. 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

VERNAL THAW: A Novel of Love at a Slant traces the entangling and unraveling of a queer relationship through love and tumult over the course of a year in Vermont. Franky, a young adjunct professor haunted by encounters with violent men, falls into an intense relationship with Vera, an older neurosurgeon shaped by a childhood in homophobic Soviet-era Ukraine. As they attempt to build a life together, their shared desire snags on unhealed wounds. An ambiguous darkness drifts between literature, dreams, and reality—ghostly forms beneath the ice, a midwinter house flood, the death of a mutual friend, secret longings—testing the tenuous intimacy between Franky and Vera.

THE FIRST REVIEW!

What better to celebrate the launch of this new book than with a review in Autostraddle (for those of you not familiar, it’s a queer news, media, and pop culture publication for LGBTQ+ women and trans people, online and recently in print). The article was written by the perceptive and talented Lauren Herold. Spoiler alert, my favorite paragraph is at the end, so please go read the review! Here’s a hint, 

“In queer relationships, we often have to create our own set of standards for navigating life outside the social norm…Vernal Thaw shows us one way to answer these questions, so we can navigate our queer desires, careers, and relationships, within or outside of the norm.”

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:

Here are some other nice words that literary folks have said about the book:

TROUBLING AND DELICIOUS

        — Daisy Hildyard, author of Hunters in the Snow, The Second Body, and Emergency

VERNAL THAW is chilling, tender, and alive. It is an otherworldly fable set in the real world, revealing the indelible and sometimes deadly paradox of human love: that it is those to whom we are closest whose true natures most escape us—often until it is too late.

         —Lucy Ives, author of An Image of My Name Enters America, Life Is Everywhere, Cosmogony, and more.

With candid prose and warm, precise emotional intelligence, Frances Cannon crafts an immersive novel about the mythic, shapeshifting nature of intimacy and the patterns of violence that linger in the landscape of home and memory, all too often awaiting a single unwary step. 

—Morgan Thomas, author of Manywhere and Mad Eden

Vernal Thaw is at once sexy, erotic, and poignant: a queer pleasure at the breaking point of romance and tragedy. Let Cannon’s wit absorb you into the minds of women-in-their rage, lovers-in-their-desires, and friends-in-their-heartbreaks, for this is surely a novel that captivates our inner lusts. Vernal Thaw is an absolute must read.    

—Orchid Tierney, author of this abattoir is a college.

EVENTS:

If you are in the UK, in Dublin, Glasgow, Edinburgh, or if you are in the US, in Burlington, Vermont, or St Johnsbury, take a look at these live, in-person events where I will begin my book tour. There will be more events throughout the year, details forthcoming, so keep your eyes peeled. I will be sharing more details about these events soon, with links and visuals. The big lesson that I’m learning is that writing and publishing in alternative ways (with indie presses, at indie book shops, for example), takes more time and effort, and thus requires more patience. I can at least say that you can mark your calendars for these four events. I can’t wait to see some of you there!

📚Reading and conversation with the author

    Thursday May 21, 6pm

   The Library Project

    Ireland’s Art Bookshop

    4 Temple Bar Street, D02 YK53, Dublin, Ireland.

📚 Reading and conversation with the author

     May 29th at 7pm Burning House Books in Glasgow

📚 Reading and conversation with the author

     June 26th 4-7pm, Tunnel Books in St Johnsbury, Vermont

📚 Reading and conversation with the author

     July 9th at 7pm Phoenix Books in Burlington, Vermont

DETAILS ABOUT DISTRIBUTION:

This book is available for pre-order through the publisher’s website, and will be available in your local independent bookshops soon. If you happen to be connected to a bookshop, here are the specific distributors:

Public Knowledge & Central Books (UK)

Artbook DAP (US)

Ingram (US)

Idea Books (EU)

Perimeter Books (AU)