Novels | Isa Arsén

THE UNBECOMING OF MARGARET WOLF

A sexy, atmospheric mid-century novel about two Shakespearean actors in an unusual marriage during one summer that will drive them closer than ever or rip them apart for good.

Up-and-coming stage actress Margaret Shoard has just taken a bow as Lady Macbeth, the role she has always believed was destined for her. At home, she plays wife to her best friend Wesley, even if she doesn’t hold his sole attention romantically. After a public breakdown threatens all she holds dear, Margaret’s doctor prescribes her uppers—just a little help to get through the days.

When Wesley is invited by eccentric director Vaughn Kline to join the cast for an inaugural Shakespeare performance in the New Mexico desert, Margaret decides to accompany him in the hopes that time away from the city will set her back to rights . . . but the world she finds in Vaughn’s company is filled with obsession and betrayal. Margaret and Wesley, embroiled in an affair with a man who may not be all he seems, must find a way forward together before their story becomes the real tragedy.

"The Unbecoming of Margaret Wolf is a triumph of genre-melding: a Shakespearean revenge plot by way of a flinty-eyed Western standoff with noir-inflicted stakes (and crackling dialogue to match). An absorbing page-turner about a woman always determined to obliterate herself in the performance of her next role, and the people who refuse to let her."

— Olivia Wolfgang-Smith, author of Mutual Interest and Glassworks

"Isa Arsén’s The Unbecoming of Margaret Wolf is one of the smartest books I've read this year. Arsén’s deft portrayal of Margaret and Wesley's unconventional relationship, set against a fascinating theatrical backdrop and laced with Shakespearean drama, makes for a gripping, heartfelt and poignant read."

— Kelly Rimmer, author of The Things We Cannot Say

"Arsén writes with ferocious intensity about identity, desire, and what it meant to a woman in mid-century America. The Unbecoming of Margaret Wolf is a dark, fascinating character study that will stay with you long after its final page."

— Rowan Beaird, author of The Divorcées

"The Unbecoming of Margaret Wolf is a juicy portrait of a troubled artist and her unconventional life. Isa Arsén's novel is a window into the mind of a talented actress who is thwarted by the limitations and expectations of her era. Arsén writes with so much sympathy and precision. I've never read anything quite like it. Every chapter is a jewel.."

— Lauren Fox, author of Send For Me

"The Unbecoming of Margaret Wolf got under my skin in the best kind of way. A captivating, bewitching and utterly original read."

— Tova Mirvis, author of The Book of Separation and We Would Never

"Arsén writes with tender attention to her characters' moods and follies. An intimate rendition of one woman on the edge, and an indelible portrait of mid-century theatre, of performance and artifice alike. The Unbecoming of Margaret Wolf is an incandescent work of drama."

— C. Michelle Lindley, author of The Nude

"With exquisite writing and vivid emotion, Arsén pulls you into the 50s in a way that is both atmospheric and thrilling, setting you right on stage alongside Margaret through not only her performances, but also her life. The Unbecoming of Margaret Wolf is a book that will stay with you long after you read the last page."

— Madeline Martin, author of The Keeper of Hidden Books

"The Unbecoming of Margaret Wolf is an easy-to-devour page-turner that spins themes of an unconventional marriage, Shakespearean theatre, and the unraveling of a woman not made for her time into a deeply moving, gripping story."

— Juliet McDaniel, author of Mr. and Mrs. American Pie

"Margaret Wolf is an astonishing character; the narrator's wry observations and Arsén's lush prose lull you into a false sense of security as Margaret spends a summer exploring suppressed desires and struggling to define herself against midcentury American expectations of women . . . just up until the shocking conclusion."

— Emily Dunlay, author of Teddy

SHOOT THE MOON

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Longlisted for the 34th Annual Reading the West Awards

Finalist for the Sergio Troncoso Award for Best Book of First Fiction by The Texas Institute of Letters

One of BookBub’s Best Books for Fall 2023
One of Shondaland’s Best Books for October 2023

How far would you travel for love?

Intelligent but isolated physics graduate Annie Fisk feels an undeniable pull toward space. When she lands a job as a NASA secretary during the Apollo 11 mission, she feels certain this path is her destiny. Her memories of childhood darkened by loss, she’s left behind her home, her mother, and her first love. And now she’s finally found her purpose. Even typing dictation, the work is everything she dreamed, and despite her budding attraction to one of the engineers, she can’t let herself be distracted. Not now.

So when her inability to ignore an engineer’s mistaken calculations propels her into a new position, Annie finds herself torn between her ambition, her heart, and a mysterious discovery that upends everything she knows to be scientifically true. Can she overcome her fears and reach toward the limits of human advancement? Will she chase her ambitions, and risk losing herself in them? Affectingly achronological in its telling, Shoot the Moon daringly explores one woman’s quest for both intellectual fulfillment and romantic love, the price paid for scientific progress, and the heart’s persistent yearning for home.

“A one-of-a-kind journey through space, time and history, SHOOT THE MOON is part historical fiction centered around NASA’s journey to the moon and part speculative fiction concerning an anomaly in the universe that allows objects to travel to the recent past and back. Utterly original, pulse-pounding, braced by science, and overflowing with love in its purest form, Isa Arsén’s debut novel is spectacular.”

— Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Daughter

“A romantic and dazzling journey into the mystery of time, space, grief and loneliness. Arsén’s knowledge of mathematics and physics is truly impressive, and brings authenticity to the world of exploration she has captured. A lovely debut.”

— Charlotte McConaghy, author of Migrations and Once There Were Wolves

“A stunning, intimate tale of emotional and intellectual courage, the bravery it takes to face the unknown—especially in our own hearts. Daring, intelligent and wonderfully detailed, SHOOT THE MOON is the space race novel I didn't even know I was looking for!”

— Claudia Cravens, author of Lucky Red

“A deep, bold, and crackling smart debut. In the vein of HIDDEN FIGURES and THE GLASS UNIVERSE, SHOOT THE MOON is a complex speculative literary novel imbued with physics and math, but also love and loss and trauma. Arsén will break your heart and light all of the neural pathways of your brain on fire.”

— Yume Kitasei, author of The Deep Sky

“Part historical fiction, part science fiction, part moving love story, Isa Arsén's SHOOT THE MOON will surprise you at every turn. Prepare yourself: SHOOT THE MOON is a book like no other.”

— Jennie Fields, author of Atomic Love

“A uniquely tender and beautiful book. Arsén has given us a nuanced time-twisting debut. Taking place in the era between the atomic bomb and the moon landing, SHOOT THE MOON is a novel of wonder and in-betweens that asks us to consider grief, hope, love, and ambition in equal measure.”

— Erika Swyler, author of The Book of Speculation and Light from Other Stars

“In prose precise as a lucid dream, Isa Arsén leads us through the empty spaces of the atmosphere and the heart, and offers a loving geometry of the ways we find our place in both.”

— Kathe Koja, author of Dark Factory and The Cipher

“Arsén lures us in with science, keeps us guessing, and surprises us at every turn. And like the moon in the title, the story circles round to a completion we couldn't have seen until it appeared, full and shining.”

— Virginia Hartman, author of The Marsh Queen