Wet Paint
Since the death of her best friend Grace, twenty-six-year-old Eve has learned to keep everything and everyone at arm’s length. Safe in her detachment, she scrapes along waiting tables and cleaning her flat in exchange for cheap rent, finding solace in her small routines.
But, when a chance encounter at work brings her past thundering into her present, Eve becomes consumed by painful memories of Grace. And soon her precariously maintained life begins to unravel: she loses her job, gets thrown out of her flat, and risks pushing away the one decent man who cares about her.
Taking up life-modelling to pay the bills, Eve lays bare her body but keeps hidden the mounting chaos inside her head. When her self-destructive urges spiral out of control, she’s forced to confront the traumatic event that changed the course of her life, and to finally face her grief and guilt.
Praise for Wet Paint
"What marks Ashby out as a distinctive voice is the warmth and compassion with which she depicts her characters and their milieu"— The Observer
"Wet Paint is a clever, gripping novel in which art and life reflect on and imitate one another"— Times Literary Supplement
"A blistering story of one girl's attempts to outmanoeuvre past trauma, loss and rejection only to find her life descending into chaos"— Stylist
"In this poised, heartfelt debut, Ashby paints a raw, richly detailed portrait of untethered youth, friendship and suppressed grief"— Olivia Sudjic
"A skilful, absorbing novel that is so much about seeing— Spectator
and being seen"
"Delicate, powerful and honest all at once. This is an unforgettable novel, and I'll read anything Chloë Ashby writes"— Lucia Osborne-Crowley
"Love, death and the power of art to both heal and harm are among the themes that Chloë Ashby addresses in her bold debut novel"— Harper's Bazaar
"This isn't a book you read, but a book you step into. Chloë Ashby has created a mesmerising and energetic world of grief, art and self-discovery"— Emma Gannon
"An elegant portrait of a young woman beginning to recover herself from bereavement"— The Irish Times
"A courageous and unwinding exploration of female pain. Dark, funny and hopeful, it's a remarkable story"— Abigail Bergstrom