Daphne

Will Boast's long-anticipated first novel is an "outright
marvelous debut [that] breathes fresh vigor
into timeless questions of love and risk" (Laura
van den Berg). Born with a rare condition in which she suffers
degrees of paralysis when faced with intense emotion, Daphne
has had few close friends and fewer lovers. Like her mythic
namesake, one touch can freeze her. But when Daphne meets
shy, charming Ollie, her well-honed defenses falter, and she's
faced with a critical choice: cling to her protective isolation or
risk the recklessness of real intimacy. Set against the backdrop
of a San Francisco flush with money and pulsing with protest,
Daphne is "an amiable exploration of how humans might come
to manage their raucous hearts" (NewYorker.com).