Wither (The Chemical Garden, Book 1) Lauren DeStefano 9780007386987

A stunning debut YA novel, destined to blow the dystopian genre wide open - The Handmaid's Tale for a new generation. This edition will contain a sneak preview of Fever, and a brand new short story by Lauren DeStefano: "The First Bride".

Sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery has only four years left to live when she is kidnapped by the Gatherers and forced into a polygamous marriage. Now she has one purpose: to escape, find her twin brother, and go home - before her time runs out forever.

What if you knew you exactly when you would die?

In our brave new future, DNA engineering has resulted in a terrible genetic flaw. Women die at the age of 20, men at 25. Young girls are being abducted and forced to breed in a desperate attempt to keep humanity ahead of the disease that threatens to eradicate it.

16-year-old Rhine Ellery is kidnapped and sold as a bride to Linden, a rich young man with a dying wife. Even though he is kind to her, Rhine is desperate to escape her gilded cage - and Linden's cruel father. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in what little time she has left.

Lauren DeStefano earned her BA in English with a Concentration in Creative Writing from Albertus Magnus College in Connecticut in 2007. Wither is her first novel.

A 'harrowing debut . . . DeStefano has an observant and occasionally pitiless eye, chronicling the cruelties, mercies, and inconsistencies of her young characters. . . . It will be intriguing to see how DeStefano develops [the larger world] as this promising trilogy progresses.'
- Publisher's Weekly starred review

'Lauren DeStefano crafts an all too believable future. I loved the world, the romance, the writing - exactly the kind of book I've been craving to read.'
-Carrie Ryan, New York Times bestselling author of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH

'Wither is an exceptional novel that begins with a bang and doesn't let you go-it's gut-wrenching, shocking, incredible, and completely and utterly absorbing all at once.... DeStefano is a fearless writer, and though it is firmly its own book, Wither will remind readers of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.'
-TheCompulsiveReader.com