We were thrilled to find this wonderful 4 star review of Kat Hausler’s debut novel, Retrograde, at Paperback Paris! Read the full review here. Retrograde release date is 9/26/17.
“In the end, the question is whether or not a relationship is able to be mended with the help of time and compromise. Of course, being able to mend a relationship thanks to a brief lapse in memory is never a bad thing, either. Full of wonderful, romantic moments and, at times, questionable actions, Hausler’s debut novel is delightful to read that will keep you turning the pages in a frantic attempt to discover whether or not Helena and Joachim remain together.”
-Melissa Ratcliff, Paperback Paris
Originally from Virginia, Kat Hausler is a graduate of New York University and holds an M.F.A. in Fiction from Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she was the recipient of a Baumeister Fellowship. She is the author of Retrograde and What I Know About July, as well as many shorter pieces. Her work has appeared in Hawaii Pacific Review, 34th Parallel, Inkspill Magazine, The Sunlight Press, The Dalloway, Rozlyn Press, Porridge Magazine, LitReactor, BlazeVOX, failbetter and The Airgonaut, among others. She lives in Berlin and is also a translator.
What I know About July
Simon Kemper is on the up and up–he’s out of rehab, and his band is gaining moderate success around Berlin. But out of the corner of his eye and over his shoulder, he’s always aware of her. The stalker. She’s at every show, no matter what city. She sends hundreds of postcards to his label. Worst of all, she acts like she knows him. Like she owns him.
When the stalker disappears at one of his shows, Simon is the prime suspect. Initially an effort to clear his name, his search for July quickly becomes a deeper psychological quest: to prove that his fears were warranted? That she couldn’t have given up her obsession that easily?
The threads of July’s disappearance turn out to be tangled into every corner of Simon’s life: a trusted band member, a tenuous new love interest, a resentful ex, and the self he’s supposedly left behind. Narcissistic, insecure, and consummately relatable, Simon is the anti-hero of his own life—trying to want to be better; hoping that’s enough.
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Retrograde
In her beautifully written debut novel, Kat Hausler weaves a haunting tale of the tenuous nature of love.
On a warm summer day in Berlin, Helena is hit by a truck while crossing the street. She awakens to the loving face of her husband Joachim, but can’t remember anything about the accident, or even the last few years leading up to it. Retrograde amnesia the doctors call it and assure her that with time, she should regain her memory. Joachim doesn’t intend to lie to his estranged wife, Helena. But when he realizes that she doesn’t remember their separation, he can’t bring himself to tell her, so he takes her home and pretends they were never apart. As the lies accumulate, Helena senses something isn’t quite right—that her husband is hiding something. When the outside world encroaches, Helena must face an unsettling truth and decide what the past will mean for their future.
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