Netsuke
Coffee House Press, 2011
Agent: Elise Capron
Ruled by his hunger for erotic encounters, a deeply wounded psychoanalyst seduces both patients and strangers with equal heat. Driven to compartmentalize his life, the doctor attempts to order and contain his lovers as he does his collection of rare netsuke, the precious miniature sculptures gifted to him by his wife. This riveting exploration of one psychoanalyst's abuse of power unearths the startling introspection present within even the darkest heart.
Reviews:
“Sex and psychosis are indistinguishable in this killer new novel from Ducornet... [A]s fascinating as it is dirty and dark, the plot is impossible to resist.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred)
“Ducornet is a novelist of ambition and scope. One is grateful for what she’s accomplished here.”
—The New York Times
“Pick up a book by the award-winning Ducornet, and you know it will be startling, elegant, and perfectly formed—like netsuke, those miniature Japanese sculptures used to fasten the cord of a kimono. This latest, an unflinching meditation on the twinned drives of lust and destruction, is no exception....Writing about a satyr-psychiatrist could be so predictable, but Ducornet makes her characters real and scary beneath the ruminative, quietly observant prose. Highly recommended for literate readers.”
—Library Journal
"Ducornet's new book tenaciously plums the tension between impulse and restraint."
—American Book Review
“An enticing, fast-moving exploration of one man’s obsession with his calculated power and unhinged desires.”
—Booklist
“Ms. Ducornet writes with velocity, immediacy, and impact. It only takes a few pages to be caught up in the mind of the doctor....This story has some fascinating insights and noholds-barred language.”
—New York Journal of Books