
Bear: A Novel by Julia Phillips
They were sisters and they would last past the end of time.
Sam and Elena dream of another life. On the island off the coast of Washington where they were born and raised, they and their mother struggle to survive. Sam works on the ferry that delivers wealthy mainlanders to their vacation homes while Elena bartends at the local golf club, but even together they can’t earn enough to get by, stirring their frustration about the limits that shape their existence.
Then one night on the boat, Sam spots a bear swimming the dark waters of the channel. Where is it going? What does it want? When the bear turns up by their home, Sam, terrified, is more convinced than ever that it’s time to leave the island. But Elena responds differently to the massive beast. Enchanted by its presence, she throws into doubt the desire to escape and puts their long-held dream in danger.
A story about the bonds of sisterhood and the mysteries of the animals that live among us—and within us—Bear is a propulsive, mythical, richly imagined novel from one of the most acclaimed young writers in America.
This Random House Book Club edition includes an author’s note, the Grimm fairytale that inspired the book, a playlist, and a discussion guide.
REVIEWS
“Phillips smartly keeps us guessing whether the fantastical creature ultimately sees Elena as friend or feast…Bear ends with a bang, and with the intriguing notion that sisterhood (or sisters?) may be as unknowable and unpredictable as anything else in nature.”—New York Times Book Review
“Bear may remind readers of Alice Hoffman’s fantasy-flecked novels, and Phillips sprinkles around the fairy dust liberally in some sections. But she’s actually working closer to the realm of Henry James’s ‘Turn of the Screw,’ in which the central character blankets the story with her distorting anxieties.”—The Washington Post
“This mythical novel of obsession, moral reckoning, and aspiration glows with fairy tale magic.”—The Boston Globe
PRODUCT DETAILS
Paperback
Publisher: Hogarth
ISBN: 978-0525436232
Pages: 320