title: Daphne: A Novel
author:  Will Boast 
description: An elegant meditation on modern-day emotion. . . . Boast is interested in the ways we handle the unwieldy welter of emotions that defines human existence (Were absolutely pickled in it, Daphne notes), how we protect ourselves from the pain of others and fail to express our own. . . . Even the most hard-hearted reader will find Boasts deep awe of what it is to feel catching.<br /> - <strong>Chelsea Leu, <em>San Francisco Chronicle</em></strong><br /><br />Boast seems to have captured todays cultural zeitgeistWatching Ollie and Daphne fall in love is both sweet and fraught[Daphnes] plight is universal; risk losing control over ones own life by embracing human intimacy, or remain in the safe isolation of a hermetically sealed existence.<br /> - <strong>Natalie Serber, <em>New York Times Book Review</em></strong><br /><br />Boasts novel is an amiable exploration of how humans might come to manage their raucous hearts.<br /> - <strong><em>NewYorker.com</em></strong><br /><br />[An] engaging debut[<em>Daphne</em>] appeals not only to the heart but also to the head.<br /> - <strong><em>The Guardian</em></strong><br /><br />In his stunning first novel, Boast turns the myth of Daphne and Apollo into a modern love story about social anxiety and physical debilitationSharply observant, both of the limits of human longing and of the fear of feeling trapped inside ones body, Boasts understated tale is at once tragic and enchanting.<br /> - <strong><em>Booklist, Starred Review</em></strong><br /><br />Psychology and myth twist into each other in this debut novel about vulnerability and fear. . . . Boast's story is rooted in myth. But it's his perceptive take on the risks of emotion that the reader will remember.<br /> - <strong><em>Kirkus Reviews, starred review</em></strong><br /><br />Supple. . . . Boast precisely depicts Daphnes emotional states, with brief, sensorily rich passages when she is on the brink of overload. . . . The novel offers a striking metaphor for the ways emotion is experienced in the body.<br /> - <strong><em>Publishers Weekly</em></strong><br /><br />Will Boast has written a novel that exquisitely marries ancient mythology and au courant medicine to tell our favorite tale, the love story, with insights both age-old and brand-spanking new. It's a fine, fine ride.<br /> - <strong>Antonya Nelson, author of <em>Bound</em> and <em>Funny Once</em></strong><br /><br />Richly meditative and quietly suspenseful, <em>Daphne</em> breathes fresh vigor into timeless questions about love and riskthe unknowable cost of fully opening ones heart to another. Will Boast writes beautifully about lifes daily moral gambles, and <em>Daphne</em> is an outright marvelous debut.<br /> - <strong>Laura van den Berg, author of <em>Find Me</em></strong>
zlib_text: Surrounded by beer-swilling, skirt-chasing cowboys her whole life, barmaid
  Daphne Norris has no intention of ever settling for any of the men in her
  Podunk hometown. So when bronc rider Will Hanson sends shock waves to
  her core with just one glance from his striking green eyes, no one is more
  surprised than her.
  But Will is no ordinary cowboy, and he can see that Daphne is no ordinary
  small-town girl. He can sense in Daphne the quiet strength and devotion
  needed to satisfy a man like him, a man who needs to be on top, in every
  aspect of his life.
  Daphne hasn’t ever succumbed to her submissive desires before, and Will
  awakens her in ways she never imagined. While she’s not prepared to give
  him her heart, she agrees to Will’s offer of three days of intense pleasure, and
  then she’s walking. But Daphne falls hard and fast, and now she has a
  decision: return to a normal life, or give up everything for Will…
  
  Dear Reader,
  Thank you for purchasing this Carina Press launch title. During our jo