Histria Books is pleased to announce the release of Beyond Where Our Monsters Lie by Debby Dodds. This novel is published by Histria Fiction, an imprint of Histria Books dedicated to outstanding original works of fiction.
In Beyond Where Our Monsters Lie, a young New York journalist revisits a childhood friendship with an older neighbor whose generosity concealed a poisonous worldview. Moving between Pennsylvania in 1979 and Manhattan in 1991, the novel considers how the need to feel wanted can make hatred sound like wisdom. Its unsettling choice is to approach antisemitic indoctrination through the ordinary comforts that give it access: chocolates, stories, attention, a door that always opens.Â
For readers concerned with how prejudice is learned and passed on, this is a story that looks beyond the public speech to the private invitation. It asks what happens when someone offering a child refuge also teaches her whom to fear and blame.
Praise for Beyond Where Our Monsters Lie:
Monsters can hide in plain sight. They might even be inside us. This lacerating and yet redemptive novel examines how easily we can cross the line—and the long journey back. The witty writing sparkles with honesty and the ending feels like a balm. — Rene Denfeld, bestselling author of The Child Finder and the forthcoming The Talking Bone
“A beautifully crafted story about haunted histories, lingering hatreds, and triumphant love.” — Rabbi David Wolpe, named The Most Influential Rabbi in America by Newsweek Magazine, Max Webber Emeritus Rabbi of Sinai Temple, author of Making Loss Matter
Fascinating, artful, and un-putdownable, Beyond Where Monsters Lie covers the complicated emotional terrain of atonement with both sensitivity and humor. Not an easy feat, yet Debby Dodds has crafted a beautiful story- one that is ultimately about friendship at its core- which invites the reader to contemplate the most important of human journeys: redemption.  — Jennifer Pastiloff, best-selling author of Proof of Life
Debby Dodds is the author of Amish Guys Don’t Call, named one of Powell’s Books’ best YA titles of 2017, and the forthcoming literary novel Beyond Where Our Monsters Lie (Histria Books). Her essays and short stories have appeared in Salon, The Sun Magazine, and bestselling anthologies. She holds a BFA from NYU and an MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles, and lectured on creativity at Oxford University in 2023. A former actress and comedy performer, she has also screamed her way through several B-horror films.
