Nightbitch
Rachel Yoder
A round of applause for Rachel Yoder. This genre-defying novel stands as a landmark in modern fairytale retellings. Ever since Angela Carter and her epic collection The Bloody Chamber, fairytale fantasy fiction has been crying out for strong modern representation — and here it is.
Brilliantly merging dark humour with surrealism, Nightbitch defies genre to offer a twisting, psychological thriller about motherhood and transformation. With unflinchingly visceral detail, Nightbitch explores the raw realities of being a mother against a primal, fantastical canvas.
Drawing subtly on the woman-into-wolf tropes from the Little Red Riding Hood myth lurking in the peripheries of our consciousness, Nightbitch reveals to readers that the scariest thing to happen to a woman is not transforming into a beast, but transforming into a mother — and, sometimes, those two things feel like one and the same.
‘A mischievous commentary on the neuroses of modern womanhood’
- The Guardian
Through the twists and turns of Nightbitch, we follow an unnamed protagonist in her transition from artist to stay-at-home mum. But, more than this, we track her more unusual transition from a woman into a dog (yes, you read that right).
Our protagonist slowly begins to believe that she’s transforming into a dog. But, before you close the book and misjudge it as an on-the-nose tale of metamorphosis, it’s worth knowing that the canine imagery throughout this book is an extended metaphor used by Yoder to explore the dehumanisation of women, and the animalistic nature of motherhood – in rage, in bodily changes, and more.
“Nightbitch is insightful, honest, brutal and full of rage. It looks at how motherhood can strip you of your identity, leave you bewildered and battered as you try to navigate this new world with its hidden codes.”
- The Literary Addict
The story follows an unnamed protagonist, a former artist turned stay-at-home mother, who slowly begins to believe she’s transforming into a dog—a metaphor that Yoder uses to highlight the societal expectations placed on women and the animalistic nature of motherhood.
Yoder paints an honest, sometimes uncomfortable, portrait of the protagonist’s life as she grapples with losing her identity, overwhelming isolation, and the relentless monotony of domesticity. Her unfiltered exploration of this experience feels both deeply personal and widely relatable to anyone familiar with the pressures of balancing personal ambition with parenthood.
“This book is strange and dark and fierce and positively pulsating with rage.”
- Bookish Chat
Starting off slowly, with just a tiny patch of hair at the back of her neck, the narrative unfolds slowly in line with the protagonists’ gradual transformation into something decidedly not human. This book encourages us to take our time and pay much closer attention to what it means to be human — from our bodies to our impulses and instincts. An utter treat for the senses.
Who is Rachel Yoder?
Rachel Yoder is an American novelist who’s new to the scene, as Nightbitch (2021) was her debut book.
Yoder is from Iowa and grew up in the Appalachian mountains near eastern Ohio. She attended the University of Iowa to complete a Nonfiction Writing Program before going on to gain an MFA from the University of Arizona, and an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University.
When Nightbitch was released, it was soon after named the ‘best book of the year’ in both Esquire and Vulture, and achieved finalist status for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel.
Whet your appetite for reading
Keen to read more ‘weird’ fiction like Nightbitch? Check out our reviews of Milkman and The Girls I’ve Been — you won’t be disappointed. In the meantime, why not fill up on other fiction in the drama or thriller genres to keep the high from Nightbitch going?
Lastly, for a constant stream of bookish content, be sure to keep up to date with the Victoria Freudenheim blog and our latest reviews page.
