Permission

A raw and haunting literary debut about loss, loneliness and sex from 'a gleaming new talent' (Observer) Echo is a young actress, living on the coast of Los Angeles, grieving for her father who was swept out to sea. With no true friends, and a troubled relationship with her mother, she seeks solace in strangers. Strangers like Orly, a dominatrix, who moves in across the street. Through this unconventional relationship, Echo tests the boundaries of desire, and discovers her own means to healing.Permission is a profoundly modern story about sex, power and loneliness. It is about people who turn to the erotic for comfort and cure, searching for an answer to that sacred question: how do I want to be loved?'Saskia Vogel's writing is beauty in motion' Stylist 'Desire is explored in its rich entirety and complexity, in its intersections with every day life, stress and lingering grief' Times Literary Supplement 'Captivating' Irish Times 'Beautifully written, mysterious and compelling' Janet Fitch, bestselling author of White Oleander 'An addictive read you'll finish within hours' Stylist 'Vogel is a gleaming new talent' Observer 'An alternative feminist love story for the modern age' Big Issue'Refreshing' Guardian 'Dreamy' Oprah Magazine____________A raw, fresh, haunting, emotionally and sexually honest literary debut.When Echo's father gets swept away by a freak current off the Los Angeles coast, she finds herself sinking into a complete state of paralysis. With no true friends and a troubled relationship with her mother, the failed young actress attempts to seek solace in the best way she knows: by losing herself in the lives of strangers. When, by chance, Echo meets a dominatrix called Orly, it finally feels like she might have found someone who will be nurturing and treasure her for who she is. But Orly's fifty-something houseboy, Piggy, isn't quite ready to let someone else share the intimate relationship he's worked so hard to form with his mistress. Permission is a love story about people who are sick with dreams and expectations and turn to the erotic for comfort and cure. As they stumble through the landscape of desire, they are in a desperate search for the answer to that sacred question: how do I want to be loved?