A story as enthusiastically madcap and funny as it is smart and emotionally surprising, Sedating Elaine introduces a roster of unforgettable characters and an indelible, wildly exciting new voice in fiction. Frances fears she may never escape the relationship, so, given no choice, she makes the obvious decision: She will sedate Elaine. Unfortunately, this seemingly romantic overture makes Elaine even more sex-crazed and maniacal with love. Now, faced with mounting pressure from her drug dealer, Dom (and his goon, Betty), Frances comes up with a terrible idea: She asks Elaine to move in with her for real.

But somehow (it involved a steady stream of beer and weed, as things often did with Frances) Elaine ended up in Frances's bed and never left. She was, in fact, looking to drown her sorrows in a pint or twelve and nurse a broken heart, shattered by the gorgeous, electric Adrienne. Sarah Haywood, best-selling author of The Cactus Frances was not looking for a relationship when she met Elaine in a bar. An intriguingly headstrong yet vulnerable character with an astonishing talent for making the worst possible life-decisions. A brilliantly quirky, surreally funny story.

An exuberant dark comedy about love, grief, sex, guilt, and one woman's harebrained scheme to tranquilize her voraciously amorous girlfriend for a few days so that she might pay off her drug dealer, make soup, and finally get some peace and quiet.

Sedating Elaine by Dawn Winter