Sexy, propulsive, explosive, and profound, La Bombasse is an international literary thriller about the kidnapping and radicalisation of a young girl, the wonders and perils of youth and the life-altering power of love.

Corsica, 1993. Seventeen-year-old Séverine Guimard knows in her heart that it's only a matter of time before she'll escape this provincial island for Hollywood's glimmering lights. Until then, she'll spend her days listening to "What is Love" on her Walkman, smoking cigarettes, and riding her bike at dusk along the picturesque roads that wind around her parents' gated villa.

That is until three masked men emerge from an idling car, tear her from her bike, duct tape her mouth and wrists, and take her somewhere hidden from prying eyes...

Séverine's face will be plastered all over newspapers and TV, but not for the reason you think.

How does one kidnapped young woman become the face of a revolution?

Details

ISBN13: 9781805462620
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 416
Edition: Export/Airside
Publication Date: 24 Jun 2025
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Publication City, Country: London, United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 21.6(H)x13.8(L)
Weight (gm):

Author Biography

Darrow Farr was a Stegner Fellow in Fiction at Stanford University. Publications include short stories in StoryQuarterly and the Saints and Sinners Festival Anthology. She was a finalist for UT's Keene Prize for Literature and UCLA Extension's James Kirkwood Literary Prize. Salvadorian American, she was born and raised outside of Philadelphia and now lives in Miami.

Reviews

"A lush, cinematic and propulsive novel filled with sex, violence, glamor and a true revolutionary spirit. It's a towering literary achievement. The Bombshell is certain to be the debut of the year, a true must-read." -- Adam Johnson, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner

If a book could possess "French-Girl Style" - that aspirational Parisian chic the internet tries to trick me into believing can be achieved with bangs or Repetto ballet flats - The Bombshell would have it. Darrow Farr's debut novel is effortlessly cool: a smart, sophisticated tale of sexual and political awakening over the course of a fateful summer that reads like falling into an Éric Rohmer film."-New York Times Book Review

"Explosive, sexy - and don't miss the twists and turns as the adventure progresses." -People

"An escapist, Hollywood-ready excursion to Corsica... Youthful idealism is fun, but what happens when the bill comes due? The final pages provide a touching answer you don't quite expect."-Vogue

"A novel I inhaled and loved...The Bombshell belongs in the category of books you really must read until the end - I was clocked by a twist I genuinely didn't see coming - and there's a lot of sultry detail to keep you engaged along the way.... I dare anyone to pick up the novel without falling for - and, OK, occasionally wanting to ground - Séverine, the alluring and vain teenager at its heart."-Joumana Khatib, New York Times Book Review