The Anatomy of Dreams

~ ~ ~

“Human beings are more productive than ever before, but they’re also unhappier. They feel oppressed by the limits of their lives: the boredom, the repetition, the fatigue. What if you could use your sleep to do more — to receive all of the traditional regenerative benefits while problem-solving, healing, even experiencing alternate worlds? Wouldn’t you be capable of extraordinary things?”

So asks Dr. Adrian Keller, a charismatic medical researcher who has staked his career on the therapeutic potential of lucid dreaming. Keller is headmaster of a boarding school in Northern California where Sylvie Patterson, a student, falls in love with a spirited classmate named Gabe. Over the next six years, Gabe and Sylvie become increasingly involved in Keller’s work, following him from the redwood forests of Eureka, California to the New England coast. But when a new opportunity brings the trio to Wisconsin, Sylvie begins to doubt the ethics of Keller’s research, fearing dangerous consequences. As she navigates the hazy, permeable boundaries between what is real and what isn’t, who can be trusted and who cannot, Sylvie also faces surprising developments in herself: an unexpected infatuation, growing paranoia and a new sense of rebellion.

Marking the arrival of a tremendous new literary talent, this hypnotic debut unfolds with quiet menace, exposing the slippery nature of trust — and the immense power of our dreams.

CHLOE BENJAMIN received her B.A. from Vassar College and her MFA in fiction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was a recipient of the Sally Mead Hands Award for Fiction Writing and the Dorothy D. Bailey Summer Prize Fellowship. She lives in Madison, WI.

“Matches the subtle surrealism of a dream with the underpinnings of a thriller.” —EMMA STRAUB, author of Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures

“A beautiful, haunting plunge into a mysterious world…resonates long past its finish.” —KAREN BROWN, author of The Longings of Wayward Girls

MARKETING/PUBLICITY

Author appearances: Chicago, Madison, WI National print review/feature campaign Local & online publicity Book club outreach, including promotion on Facebook.com/SomethingtoReadAbout Atria Summer Fiction feature title • Online promotions & features Cross promotion with chloekrugbenjamin.com and @chloebenjamin

ATRIA PAPERBACK

On Sale September 16, 2014 9781476761169 • $15 US/$17 Can.

PUBLICITY CONTACT

David Brown David.Brown@SimonandSchuster.com

Nonmerch9781476770666. Uncorrected Proof. Not for Sale. Please do not quote for publication without checking the finished book. Further information available on copyright page.