Impossible to believe that this is a first novel. It feels so assured, so wise; and the “edge” of the title teaches us so much about internalized morality that the text is almost a manual of emotional intelligence.... Now, at last, the Age of the Internet is producing its own fine young novelists; one of them wrote this book.”
--Frank Delaney, NY Times Bestselling author of Ireland a Novel
 The first novel by Guy New York, The Island on the Edge of Normal, follows James from New York City to the coast of Maine where he struggles to forget his past by destroying his memories one page at a time. As he settles into his new life, he finds himself falling in love with Issa, the married women whose house he is sharing. When he learns that Issa and Paul have an open marriage he’s forced to make decisions he’s tried hard to avoid.
But the more comfortable he becomes, the more his past returns, until suddenly it arrives on the island in the form of Jane, the woman he’s been trying so hard to forget. Even as James learns about non-jealous husbands, handsome tourists, and growing up on the edge of normal, he’s still consumed by guilt, fear, and a deep-seated anger that he doesn’t fully understand and can’t let go.
A tale of love, lust, and redemption, The Island on the Edge of Normal pushes the boundaries of what it means to create, destroy, and forgive.

The Island on the Edge of Normal

Literature & Fiction

New York, Guy

Goodwin, Ben

Literary

Not your typical young girl fetish story, Alice's body stopped maturing at an age just grazing pubescence, but her mind certainly did not. Like a heroine without a size-reversal potion, Alice is a 40 year old woman trapped in her barely budding, albeit beautiful, skin. Her medical condition has left her the personification of Lolita-esque kinks and unwanted carnal urges for as long as she can remember-a body first always, and a woman and mind perpetually second. When her wonderfully bland, reliable, archaeologist of a husband Henry takes up a teaching position in the midwest, Alice is thrust from the frenetically familiar anonymity of New York she knows too well into a new, alien world. Not a wonderland in the usual sense, Alice embarks on a journey of re-discovery propelled by an exploration for power within herself, her womanhood, her body, her lusts, and her sexuality. But danger follows her down this rabbit hole of sensuality, leaving her balanced on a knife's edge between pure, ecstatic self-awakening and utter destruction. Weaving a myriad of complexity into one of our most culturally taboo sexual fantasies, Portraits of Alice presents an entangled and sometimes uncomfortable eroticism necessary and appropriate in the age of MeToo. Tonguing the blurry lines separating the many selves we all have, Alice is a fiercely honest, and subtly sensual, protagonist. Alice's story is unapologetic and relatable, full of real wants, real love, and real desperation, revealing our true colors for what they are: utterly human.

Portraits of Alice

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Goodwin, Ben. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Goodwin, Ben

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Goodwin, Ben. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Island on the Edge of Normal

Portraits of Alice