The Blondes

During a still hot autumn in New York City, a rabies-like illness spreads among blonde women, causing them to "rage out" and attack passersby. The epidemic shuts down New York where Hazel, a grad student who is pregnant and alone, tries to escape only to find the disease infecting women throughout North America. Published in 2015 by Picador, Emily Schultz's novel The Blondes was a both an NPR and Kirkus book of the year and received praise from Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, and Emily St. John Mandel, who called it, "Intelligent, mesmerizing, and fearless. An entirely original and beautifully twisted satire with a heart of darkness."