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Description
A teenage girl breaks free from her father’s world of isolation to discover that her whole life is a lie in this “absorbing and well-crafted” (The Washington Post) novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Things and Watch Me Disappear.
“A mesmerizing blend of coming-of-age and psychological suspense, set against the birth of the internet age.”—People
The first thing you have to understand is that my father was my entire world.
Growing up in an isolated cabin in Montana in the mid-1990s, Jane knows only the world that she and her father live in: the woodstove that heats their home, the vegetable garden where they try to eke out a subsistence, the books of nineteenth-century philosophy that her father gives her to read in lieu of going to school. Her father is elusive about their pasts, giving Jane little beyond the facts that they once lived in the Bay Area and that her mother died in a car accident, the crash propelling him to move Jane off the grid to raise her in a Waldenesque utopia.
As Jane becomes a teenager she starts pushing against the boundaries of her restricted world. She begs to accompany her father on his occasional trips away from the cabin. But when Jane realizes that her devotion to her father has made her an accomplice to a horrific crime, she flees Montana to the only place she knows to look for answers about her mysterious past, and her mother’s death: San Francisco. It is a city in the midst of a seismic change, where her quest to understand herself will force her to reckon with both the possibilities and the perils of the fledgling internet, and where she will come to question everything she values.
In this sweeping, suspenseful novel from bestselling author Janelle Brown, we see a young woman on a quest to understand how we come to know ourselves. It is a bold and unforgettable story about parents and children; nature and technology; innocence and knowledge; the losses of our past and our dreams for the future.
“A mesmerizing blend of coming-of-age and psychological suspense, set against the birth of the internet age.”—People
The first thing you have to understand is that my father was my entire world.
Growing up in an isolated cabin in Montana in the mid-1990s, Jane knows only the world that she and her father live in: the woodstove that heats their home, the vegetable garden where they try to eke out a subsistence, the books of nineteenth-century philosophy that her father gives her to read in lieu of going to school. Her father is elusive about their pasts, giving Jane little beyond the facts that they once lived in the Bay Area and that her mother died in a car accident, the crash propelling him to move Jane off the grid to raise her in a Waldenesque utopia.
As Jane becomes a teenager she starts pushing against the boundaries of her restricted world. She begs to accompany her father on his occasional trips away from the cabin. But when Jane realizes that her devotion to her father has made her an accomplice to a horrific crime, she flees Montana to the only place she knows to look for answers about her mysterious past, and her mother’s death: San Francisco. It is a city in the midst of a seismic change, where her quest to understand herself will force her to reckon with both the possibilities and the perils of the fledgling internet, and where she will come to question everything she values.
In this sweeping, suspenseful novel from bestselling author Janelle Brown, we see a young woman on a quest to understand how we come to know ourselves. It is a bold and unforgettable story about parents and children; nature and technology; innocence and knowledge; the losses of our past and our dreams for the future.
Product Details
| Publisher | Random House |
| Publish Date | June 03, 2025 |
| Pages | 368 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9780593449783 |
| Dimensions | 9.6 X 6.4 X 1.2 inches | 1.2 pounds |
About the Author
Janelle Brown is the New York Times bestselling author of I’ll Be You, Pretty Things, Watch Me Disappear, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, and This Is Where We Live. An essayist and journalist, she has written for Vogue, The New York Times, Elle, Wired, Self, Los Angeles Times, Salon, and more. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two children.
Reviews
“A book I can hand to anyone, then discuss. . . . [What Kind of Paradise] might prompt a pop-up book club.”—The New York Times
“Absorbing and well-crafted.”—The Washington Post
“A mesmerizing blend of coming-of-age and psychological suspense, set against the birth of the internet age. It’s a story about isolation, secrets, and the power of truth—and also a deep dive into the ways technology has affected us as a society and individuals.”—People
“[Brown’s] most gripping, thought-provoking and haunting novel yet . . . I would argue that What Kind of Paradise should be required reading, a work of fiction that functions nearly as nonfiction, akin to Kim Brooks’s Small Animals or Tara Westover’s Educated. I expect to see this galvanizing, powerful novel at the top of many ‘Best Of’ lists this year.”—Bookreporter
“[What Kind of Paradise] deftly captures both the giddy enthusiasm of that period when the internet’s possibilities felt boundless, as well as the unforeseen dangers and downsides that were ushered in with the digital revolution.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“Thrilling . . . [The] central tension had me racing through the pages, as did the complex family dynamics and irresistible ’90s nostalgia.”—Modern Mrs. Darcy
“What Kind of Paradise is a twisty, sharp coming-of-age story for our strange techno-utopian times. It brims with suspense and family secrets, all while asking big questions about the cost of progress.”—Rachel Khong, author of Real Americans
“This is the work of a writer who truly knows how to thrill. Janelle Brown has constructed a tender novel about parents and children, one that leaves readers weighing unanswerable questions of ethics and responsibility.”—Rumaan Alam, author of Entitlement and Leave the World Behind
“An intelligent and thoughtful page-turner that explores the blurry lines between right and wrong, truth and fiction, choice and fate.”—Jessica Knoll, author of Bright Young Women and Luckiest Girl Alive
“What Kind of Paradise is a swiftly moving, gorgeously told story that wrestles with the repercussions of progress, technology, capitalism, and power.”—Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, author of Good Company and The Nest
“A breathtaking story of love, loyalty, family, and fate, What Kind of Paradise is an incredibly prescient and nuanced exploration of the impact of technology on society and individuals.”—Alafair Burke, author of The Note
“Sinuous, intensely satisfying, spectacular . . . Janelle Brown’s new novel is a complete knockout.”—Amity Gaige, author of Heartwood
“Hypnotic.”—Publishers Weekly
“Part coming-of-age story, part psychological thriller, and part social commentary.”—Library Journal
“Absorbing and well-crafted.”—The Washington Post
“A mesmerizing blend of coming-of-age and psychological suspense, set against the birth of the internet age. It’s a story about isolation, secrets, and the power of truth—and also a deep dive into the ways technology has affected us as a society and individuals.”—People
“[Brown’s] most gripping, thought-provoking and haunting novel yet . . . I would argue that What Kind of Paradise should be required reading, a work of fiction that functions nearly as nonfiction, akin to Kim Brooks’s Small Animals or Tara Westover’s Educated. I expect to see this galvanizing, powerful novel at the top of many ‘Best Of’ lists this year.”—Bookreporter
“[What Kind of Paradise] deftly captures both the giddy enthusiasm of that period when the internet’s possibilities felt boundless, as well as the unforeseen dangers and downsides that were ushered in with the digital revolution.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“Thrilling . . . [The] central tension had me racing through the pages, as did the complex family dynamics and irresistible ’90s nostalgia.”—Modern Mrs. Darcy
“What Kind of Paradise is a twisty, sharp coming-of-age story for our strange techno-utopian times. It brims with suspense and family secrets, all while asking big questions about the cost of progress.”—Rachel Khong, author of Real Americans
“This is the work of a writer who truly knows how to thrill. Janelle Brown has constructed a tender novel about parents and children, one that leaves readers weighing unanswerable questions of ethics and responsibility.”—Rumaan Alam, author of Entitlement and Leave the World Behind
“An intelligent and thoughtful page-turner that explores the blurry lines between right and wrong, truth and fiction, choice and fate.”—Jessica Knoll, author of Bright Young Women and Luckiest Girl Alive
“What Kind of Paradise is a swiftly moving, gorgeously told story that wrestles with the repercussions of progress, technology, capitalism, and power.”—Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, author of Good Company and The Nest
“A breathtaking story of love, loyalty, family, and fate, What Kind of Paradise is an incredibly prescient and nuanced exploration of the impact of technology on society and individuals.”—Alafair Burke, author of The Note
“Sinuous, intensely satisfying, spectacular . . . Janelle Brown’s new novel is a complete knockout.”—Amity Gaige, author of Heartwood
“Hypnotic.”—Publishers Weekly
“Part coming-of-age story, part psychological thriller, and part social commentary.”—Library Journal
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