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Sometimes you have to get lost to get found. Get lost in ‘Iphigenia Murphy’

by BUST Magazine

“I blew out the candles. I wished. I wished so hard. I had learned my lesson from fairy tales, though, to never make your wish too specific. Like, if you wish for a lot of money, you might get a big check, but because, like, you lost your arm in an accident or something. So, I left it vague. I wish to be okay. I wish for us all to be okay.”

From debut author Sara Hosey comes a heart-breaking tale about abandonment, abuse, homelessness, and survival. Readers of Kody Keplinger’s Run and Tiffany D. Jackson’s Monday’s Not Coming will want to add Iphigenia Murphy to their feminist-centric fiction list.

Iphigenia Murphy is the perfect read for anyone looking for a YA book about teens with real issues and a powerful female lead at the center. The novel explores the effects of abandonment on Iphigenia Murphy and just how far a young girl will go to seek out her mother’s love.

Iphigenia, or Iffy, as she’s called, is a girl who is forsaken, a young person who is seen as disposable, the kind of girl who could run away from home and not be missed. However, Iffy rejects this narrative and this fate. She sets out in search of the one person she believes could value her, redeem her, avenge her: her mother.

The novel is about the longing for one’s mother, as well as one young woman’s search for family and community. It’s about how easy it is for some girls and young women in our world to get lost, but it’s also a story of survival and connection, dramatizing how finding our people can not only help us to make sense of our struggles, but also the ways in which we can build new communities and worlds–worlds in which we can feel safe and valued.

“Brilliant; a ferocious, harrowing, amazing portrait of a young girl’s resilience…Sara Hosey has given us a true story of solidarity and girl power.” –Norah Olsen, award-winning author of Twisted Fate and Before Now

The novel explores the sustaining love of friendship, the kindness of strangers, and the indelible bond of family. Hosey paints an incredibly vivid story that follows colorful characters and crafts a work of writing with a raw simplicity packed with emotions. The book highlights the kindness of people amidst the nastiness of others and how important a support system can be. 

“Hosey’s gritty and unflinching coming-of-age story offers hope without skimping on real-life issues…A heart-wrenching, gritty, critical read.”–Mia Siegert, author of Jerkbait and the forthcoming Somebody Told Me

A coming-of-age story filled with hope, Iphigenia Murphy is gritty, heart-wrenching, and a must-read, filled with life-long lessons and a courageous female character as its lead.

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Founded in 1993, BUST is the inclusive feminist lifestyle trailblazer offering a unique mix of humor, female-focused entertainment, uncensored personal stories, and candid reporting that tells the truth about women’s lives.

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