Longlisted for the Believer Book Award
An O Magazine Top Pick
As featured in the New York Times Book Review
ELLE ONES TO WATCH 2019
“Quietly subversive” THE OBSERVER
“Compelling take on sex and power” THE IRISH TIMES
A grieving young woman learns something new about love from a dominatrix in this haunting and erotic debut. When Echo’s father gets swept away by a freak current off the Los Angeles coast, she enters a state of paralysis. The failed young actress seeks solace in the best way she knows: by losing herself in the lives of others. This time it’s with her new neighbor, a dominatrix named Orly who works out of her suburban home, and who introduces Echo to a whole new world of desire. But Orly’s fifty-something houseboy won’t quite let Echo slip into sweet oblivion? Set among the bright colors of L.A., Permission is a love story about three people sick with dreams and expectations who turn to the erotic for comfort and cure. As they stumble through the landscape of desire, they ask themselves: how do I want to be loved?
Buy Permission Online Here:
NORTH AMERICA | Direct from the publisher | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop.org
SWEDEN (Älskarna)
SPAIN (Soy una pornógrafa)
ITALY (Consenso)
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“Vogel’s portrayal of sexual kink is particularly refreshing: rather than pruriently gorging on catharsis, Permission foregrounds the emotional intimacy – built on constancy, trust and compassion – that can flourish in the most unconventional relationships.” THE GUARDIAN
‘Beautifully written, mysterious and compelling’ JANET FITCH
‘If Joan Didion had written about the BDSM community in LA it may have felt a bit like Permission’ LIT HUB MUST READ BOOKS OF 2019
‘[A] quietly transgressive tale of desire, love, loneliness, restraint and connection. The writing is fresh and minimal and the characters full of longing. A blistering debut for fans of Mary Gaitskill and A. M. Homes’
SARAH JANE ROBERTS