Soft Core
- Author Brittany Newell
- Narrator Christine Lakin
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
- Publish Date 4 February 2025
- Run Time 10 hours and 39 minutes
- Format x-book®
- Genre Contemporary horror and ghost stories, Modern and contemporary fiction, Narrative theme: Interior life, Narrative theme: journeys and voyages, Narrative theme: Love and relationships.
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What to expect
‘Drew me in like a whirlpool’ NICOLA DINAN
‘A feverish love story’ ANOTHER
‘Hugely enjoyable … dreamlike and erotic’ THE TIMES
‘Romantic, dangerous and sexy’ STYLIST
Highly seductive … and fun as hell!’ TONY TULATHIMUTTE
A rollercoaster of a cult love story following a dancer in San Francisco’s erotic underground.
Baby spends her days with her sweet, cross-dressing, drug-dealing ex-boyfriend, Dino, and every night dancing at Paradise Lost, a strip club where she transforms into whoever her clients want her to be.
When Dino disappears suddenly, Baby plunges headfirst into San Francisco’s shady, erotic underground of dive bars and sex dungeons to find him. She encounters a surreal cast of characters: Simon, a recluse who pays her for increasingly bizarre favours; a suicide fetishist named Nobody; and Emeline, Paradise’s new hire who seems to want to steal Baby’s whole identity, starting with her underwear.
Will Baby manage to find the only man she’s ever loved? Or might her past catch up with her first?
A hottest book of 2025 in Sunday Times Style, Dazed, AnOther and Stylist.
‘A beautiful fever dream’ KRISTEN ARNETT, author of With Teeth
‘Exhilarating … full of verve, drama and detail’ NEW YORK TIMES
‘Incredible … the best book I’ve read this year’ STYLIST
‘A wide ride through San Francisco's dark underbelly’ DAILY MAIL
‘For the generation whose life is an endless stream of dead-end Hinge dates’ SUNDAY TIMES STYLE
‘A profound look at sex work and lives unusually lived’ DAZED
Critics Review
n Praise for Soft Core:n
n‘A hugely enjoyable exploration of all the strange things people desire … sensory and evocative’ The Times
n‘Uncanny, almost ghostly … For a story about desire and longing, it is surprisingly spooky, full of stalkers, creeps and doubles’ Observer
n‘Exhilarating … pacey and rich, full of verve, drama and detail’ New York Times Book Review
n‘A profound look at sex work and lives unusually lived, and how they can be just as banal as the “normal ones”’ Dazed
n‘A prodigal talent’ AnOther Magazine
n‘A wild ride through San Francisco’s dark underbelly, full of sex workers and drug dealers … brilliant on power, perception and identity. Great fun’ Daily Mail
n‘A glitter-bomb David Lynch … a trippy excursion down the rabbit hole into a particular substratum of culture’ The Atlantic
n‘Drew me in like a whirlpool – a wild spin into loneliness and desire’ Nicola Dinan, author of Disappoint Me
n‘Louche, fleshy and freestyle … Deeply impressive and fun as hell!’ Tony Tulathimutte, author of Rejection
n‘I was consumed by Soft Core … Funny, sexy and surprising, I loved it’ Pip Finkemeyer, author of Sad Girl Novel
n‘A beautiful fever dream, a slippery, captivating pleasure, a love story stuffed inside a wadded nylon stocking' Kristen Arnett, author of With Teeth
n‘Haunting and vivid, an excellent surprise’ Charlotte Shane, author of An Honest Woman
n| Author | Brittany Newell |
|---|---|
| Narrator | Christine Lakin |
| Duration | 10 hours and 39 minutes |
| Release Date | |
| ISBN | 9780008670412 |
| Format | x-book® |
| Publisher | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Genre | Contemporary horror and ghost stories, Modern and contemporary fiction, Narrative theme: Interior life, Narrative theme: journeys and voyages, Narrative theme: Love and relationships |
| Availability | AU, GB, IE |
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