Brawler
The newshort story collection from the bestselling author of Matrix and Fates and Furies
Published on 5. March 2026
272 pages
978-1-80494-116-4 (ISBN)
Description
"Groff reminds us of the myriad human galaxies around us, spinning off brightly into the dark." MELISSA HARRISON, author of All Among the Barley
One of our best writers, Lauren Groff returns with a fierce new story collection, her first since the award-winning and bestselling Florida.
Ranging from the 1950s to the present day and moving across age, class, and region - from New England to Florida to California - these nine stories reflect and expand upon a single shared theme: the ceaseless battle between the dark and light in all of us.
Among those caught in this match are a young woman suddenly responsible for her disabled sibling; a hot-tempered high school swimmer in need of an adult; a mother blinded by the loss of her family; and a banking scion endowed with a different kind of inheritance. Motivated by love, impeded by human fallibility, they try to do the right thing for as long as they can.
Precise, surprising and provocative, anchored by profound insight into human nature, Brawler reveals the repeated fracture points between love and fear, compassion and violence, reason and instinct, altruism and survival. It is a timeless, stunning achievement from one of the very best short story writers working today.
Praise for Lauren Groff
"Her writing has a timeless quality" The Times on The Vaster Wilds
"Groff's writing is muscular and precise, her themes wildly resonant" Sunday Times on Matrix
"An audacious piece of storytelling, full of passion, wisdom and magic" Sarah Waters on Matrix
"It's as brightly lit as an illuminated manuscript" Naomi Alderman on Matrix
"One of its stories is a bracing read; together they form a masterpiece" Stylist on Florida
"She's a writer whose turn of phrase can stop you in your tracks" Financial Times on Florida
"Easily the year's best story collection" Vogue on Florida
One of our best writers, Lauren Groff returns with a fierce new story collection, her first since the award-winning and bestselling Florida.
Ranging from the 1950s to the present day and moving across age, class, and region - from New England to Florida to California - these nine stories reflect and expand upon a single shared theme: the ceaseless battle between the dark and light in all of us.
Among those caught in this match are a young woman suddenly responsible for her disabled sibling; a hot-tempered high school swimmer in need of an adult; a mother blinded by the loss of her family; and a banking scion endowed with a different kind of inheritance. Motivated by love, impeded by human fallibility, they try to do the right thing for as long as they can.
Precise, surprising and provocative, anchored by profound insight into human nature, Brawler reveals the repeated fracture points between love and fear, compassion and violence, reason and instinct, altruism and survival. It is a timeless, stunning achievement from one of the very best short story writers working today.
Praise for Lauren Groff
"Her writing has a timeless quality" The Times on The Vaster Wilds
"Groff's writing is muscular and precise, her themes wildly resonant" Sunday Times on Matrix
"An audacious piece of storytelling, full of passion, wisdom and magic" Sarah Waters on Matrix
"It's as brightly lit as an illuminated manuscript" Naomi Alderman on Matrix
"One of its stories is a bracing read; together they form a masterpiece" Stylist on Florida
"She's a writer whose turn of phrase can stop you in your tracks" Financial Times on Florida
"Easily the year's best story collection" Vogue on Florida
Reviews / Votes
These are stories of fracture and survival, of the fulcrums on which lives tilt. On finishing Brawler, the world felt more densely peopled, richer with stories. Groff reminds us of the myriad human galaxies all around us, spinning off brightly into the dark. -- Melissa Harrison, author of 'All Among the Barley' Her writing has a timeless quality * The Times (on The Vaster Wilds) * Groff's writing is muscular and precise, her themes wildly resonant * Sunday Times (on Matrix) * An audacious piece of storytelling, full of passion, wisdom and magic -- Sarah Waters (on Matrix) It's as brightly lit as an illuminated manuscript -- Naomi Alderman (on Matrix) Lauren Groff is a writer of rare gifts * New York Times (on Fates and Furies) * Groff's lush writing has a compelling awareness of what is unsaid * The Times (on Fates and Furies) *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cornerstone
File size
0,73 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-80494-116-4 (9781804941164)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Person
Lauren Groff is a three-time National Book Award finalist and the New York Times bestselling author of five novels, including Fates and Furies, Matrix, and The Vaster Wilds, and two other story collections, including Florida. Winner of The Story Prize and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, she has also been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her work regularly appears in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and elsewhere, and her books have been translated into thirty-six languages. She lives in Gainesville, Florida, where she and her husband own the independent bookstore The Lynx.
