Reading Danya Kukafka's Notes on an Execution is a profound and staggering experience of empathy that challenges us to confront what it means to be human in our darkest moments. * Brit Bennett, bestselling author of The Vanishing Half *

Notes on an Execution examines a culture that romanticizes men who kill while also exploring the lives of the overlooked women altered by this violence. * Megan Abbott, author of Dare Me *Ī searing portrait of the complicated women caught in the orbit of a serial killer. Danya Kukafka's Notes on an Execution is an irresistible, unbearably tense thriller, a poignant, deeply compassionate tale of resilience, and a vital intervention in the way we talk about violent crime, its endless reverberations and foremost its survivors. Notes on an Execution is nuanced, ambitious and compelling * Katie Kitamura, New York Times * In particular, the relationships between women - sisters, friends, colleagues - are beautifully drawn, dense with detail and specificity.

This novel is defiantly populated with living women it ruminates on trauma, the criminal justice system and guilt. Exploring the effects of violence by men and the worlds that are ruined, this is a breakout book for 2022 * Stylist, Books you can't miss in 2022 *Īt once blistering with righteous anger and radical empathy, Notes on an Execution is destined to become a contemporary classic. It's the narratives of three women affected by his actions: his mother, Lavender his ex-wife's sister, Hazel and the female detective, Saffy, who tracked him down. This is the story of the women left behind.īlending breathtaking suspense with astonishing empathy, Notes On An Execution presents a chilling portrait of womanhood as it unravels the familiar narrative of the American serial killer, interrogating our cultural obsession with crime stories, and asking readers to consider the false promise of looking for meaning in the minds of violent men.Ī killer is on death row but this is not his story. And Saffy, the detective hot on his trail, is devoted to bringing bad men to justice but struggling to see her own life clearly. Hazel, twin sister to his wife, is forced to watch helplessly as the relationship threatens to devour them all.

Lavender, Ansel's mother, is a seventeen-year-old girl pushed to desperation. Ansel doesn't want to die he wants to be celebrated, understood.Īs the clock ticks down, three women uncover the history of a tragedy and the long shadow it casts. He knows what he's done, and now awaits the same fate he forced on those girls, years ago. Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours.

Danya kukafka notes on an execution