The Damages by Genevieve Scott

A novel about memory, trauma and identity

Image | BOOK COVER: The Damages by Genevieve Scott

(Penguin Random House Canada)

1997: For Ros, starting university at Regis is an opportunity for reinvention — a chance to be seen as interesting, to be accepted by the in-crowd, and maybe even get a boyfriend. But when she meets her roommate, Megan, with her pleated jeans and horse-print bedding, she sees her as a social liability. Outside of their dorm room, Ros distances herself from Megan and quickly befriends the cool kids, seeking status at all costs. Just after winter break, an intense ice storm hits campus, triggering a reckless, days-long dorm party, during which Megan goes missing. Ros is blamed for the incident and abruptly dropped by her social circle, casting a shadow over the next two decades of her life.

2020: Ros's former partner, Lukas, the father of her eleven-year-old son, is accused of a sexual assault. The accusation brings new details of an old story to light, forcing Ros to revisit a dark moment from her past. Ros must take a hard look not only at the father of her child, but also at her own mistakes, her own trauma, and at the supposed liberal period she grew up in. (From Penguin Random House Canada)
Genevieve Scott is a Canadian author and teacher based in California. Her previous work was the novel Catch My Drift.

Interviews with Genevieve Scott

Media Audio | The Next Chapter : Genevieve Scott explores the complicated sexual dynamics of the 90s in The Damages

Caption: Set in the 1990s era of girl power, sex positivity and the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, the novel tells the story of a Canadian student named Megan who mysteriously disappears.

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