It is a rare debut that manages to tell a uniquely personal story while illuminating the problems of a generation Holly Pesters The Lodgers is such a book reading more like a modern classic than a first novelThe Irish Times
Gorgeously written I often say I really only care about language and vibes This one delivered on both with such brilliance It used humor in ways I dont think I really have seen on the page before Dark honest and pitch perfectDebutiful
Funny nightmarish and diffuse all at once but always as sharp as a knife Fizzing with the life it reflects and played for the blackest of laughsThe Guardian
The Lodgers is certainly compelling Littered throughout are shrewd observations on the rootlessnessof renting and shipsinthenight cohabitationTimes Literary Supplement
In the crafty debut novel by one of Britains best young poets a woman moving into a sublet flat is preoccupied by thoughts of the one shes left and whos living there nowThe Telegraph
The Lodgers is a hugely impressive debut this novel is not just engaging but deeply rewardingBusiness Post
A disorienting tale of flatmates and precarious housing arrangements comes with a hard political truth in this stylish debut novelThe Observer
The raging instability of the housing market and its impact on Generation Rent find rare poetic expression in this arresting debut A novel that sharply captures the precarity of basic 21stcentury livingDaily Mail
Compelling and pleasingly weirdLiterary Review
A raw and uncompromising dive into the shadows of existence Brilliantly and movingly renderedBuzz Magazine
This novel holds a pressing political truthThe Week
Pester uses her craft to manipulate time and space creating a rich complex layered worldFrieze
This brief but captivating read will wickedly resonate with anyone whos had to navigate precarious and depressing lettingsStylist
A bold sharp novelVice
The Lodgers is an excellent funny exploration of impermanenceTripwire
The restless tactics of Holly Pesters extraordinary sentences enact the precarity of the living conditions she describes Holly Pester is a genius and The Lodgers gets into everything that mattersKate Briggs author of The Long Form
A sad strange lyrical story of shame and displacement whose strength will not let you goSheena Patel author of Im a Fan
Very smart and sharply written Anyone who has ever rented or sublet or couchsurfed will instantly identify with the pain in this book with the slightly altered sense of realitySara Baume author of Seven Steeples
There is no one better than Holly Pester at communicating the eerie sometimes hilarious and often hallucinatory experience of modern precarity This is a novel for the age and for generation rent a captivating and unforgettable account of how economic circumstance can lead to a feeling of being only half aliveNathalie Olah author of Steal As Much As You Can How to Win the Culture Wars in an Age of Austerity
With tang and pith in every sentence The Lodgers speaks to a generational epidemic of rootlessness and porous selfhood with vital wit and utter originalityAK Blakemore author of The Glutton