The Young of Other Animals

“The Young of Other Animals is an addictively moving and suspenseful novel with family secrets fueling the narrative. Cander presents a complex study of the ways in which women respond to trauma, and how those scars can be passed down from mother to daughter. Cander excels in writing richly drawn women characters and complicated family relationships. Paula and Mayree are characters that will stay with me for a long time.” —Lara Prescott, New York Times bestselling author of The Secrets We Kept

“Love and loss, in Cander’s powerfully addictive new novel, unearth dark secrets and a shared trauma that threaten to earthquake an already shaky bond between a mother and daughter. Cander’s usual eloquence with characters is in full force here, as is her understanding that feelings are not facts, love is persistent, and what we think might kill us can be the very thing to save us.” —Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of With or Without You

“Several dark and twisty rivers run through Chris Cander’s latest engrossing novel—a compelling crime mystery, a deft exploration of flawed mother-daughter relationships, and an intimate view of violent childhood trauma. The Young of Other Animals delivers as a suspense novel and as an homage to the resilience of female relationships.” —Julia Heaberlin, international bestselling author of Night Will Find You

“The Young of Other Animals is unlike any book I’ve read before—an intense, distinctive novel about mothers and daughters, generational trauma, and redemption. Part family drama, part mystery, and part dark comedy, this book is gutting in the way only the best literature, written by an author with immense skill, wisdom, and compassion, can be. What a knockout.” —Ashley Winstead, author of Midnight Is the Darkest Hour

“The Young of Other Animals is a gut punch of a novel—a deeply suspenseful, profoundly moving exploration of the aftermath of trauma, set in an atmospheric Austin of years past and featuring an unforgettable mother-daughter duo. I couldn’t turn pages fast enough, though I wanted to savor every line. Chris Cander is a true talent.” —Katie Gutierrez, national bestselling author of More Than You’ll Ever Know

“The Young of Other Animals is chilling, moving, and urgent, one of those books that demands your full attention until you’ve finished the very last page. Chris Cander’s propulsive, beautifully layered prose tackles cycles of violence and the complicated shame of survival, but this is also a story full of hope—a novel about resiliency, growing up, mothers and daughters, and above all, the way women love and care for one another.” —Kimberly King Parsons, National Book Award–nominated author of Black Light

“Chris Cander’s blazing and beautifully written novel The Young of Other Animals opens with an astonishing attack on a young woman. What follows is a meditation on the trauma of violence—the push and pull of vulnerability and resilience—a mind-bending whodunit, and a thrilling conclusion. Superbly crafted, the story grabbed me from the start, carried me deep into the hearts of its characters, and by the last page, I didn’t want to let go. I’ll be unpacking this one for a long while.” —C. J. Washington, author of The Intangible and Imperfect Lives

“Mother-daughter relationships can be fraught with tension, and these mother-daughter duos are ready to ignite. Chris Cander crafts a fascinating novel about family dynamics, true friendship, and intergenerational trauma. A young woman in jeopardy is just the start of this sizzling work of suspense. The Young of Other Animals is poised to ignite a fire in every reader who picks it up.” —Pamela Klinger-Horn, event coordinator at Valley Bookseller