Announcing Our Discover Prize Winner for 2022: The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

By Brittany Bunzey / October 12, 2022 at 6:50 pm

We are thrilled to announce the winner of our Discover Prize for 2022 — Tess Gunty’s The Rabbit Hutch! It’s been an amazing year of absolutely remarkable fiction, and yet, this debut has absolutely captivated us and stood out among all the books published.

Hardcover $28.00

The Rabbit Hutch (B&N Discover Prize Winner) (National Book Award Winner)

By Tess Gunty

In Stock Online

Hardcover $28.00

In a Midwestern town that’s run out of luck, a group of teenagers live together after they aged out of the foster care system; home is The Rabbit Hutch, an apartment complex that’s seen better days. Powerful and taut, this is a beautifully written story of community and loss, escape and healing, loneliness and hope. Readers won’t soon forget eighteen-year-old Blandine, the big beating heart of this novel. The writing is so assured, it’s hard to believe this is Tess Gunty’s debut.

We adore this book, and our very own Miwa Messer got to talk with her about this brilliant debut on our Poured OverPodcast. If you’re looking to learn more about the book, the writer, and the authors that inspire Tess Gunty, go ahead and give the episode a listen to here. With themes like loneliness and connection, climate change and gentrification, this book is certain to linger in readers’ minds just like it has ours.

Poured Over: Tess Gunty on The Rabbit Hutch

“To write a young woman who refuses to define herself by anything other than her activism, her mind, her curiosity,…

Listen In

What Our Booksellers Say About The Rabbit Hutch:

“This book is a masterpiece – a specific story of a young woman in a dying midwestern town but also a universal story of love, loneliness, and longing. There is violence and sadness but, like the battered heart on the cover, this book beats with life – bloody, real life. Rabbit Hutch will stay with me for a long time.” – Brenda A., Bookseller

“I have been one of these characters. You have been one, and if not, you will. The question is which one are you? For these unforgettable characters, what puts them in that specific month, year, town building and even apartment makes them who they are.” –Florencia C., Bookseller

“Rabbit Hutch: the next ‘Great American Novel.’ Fiercely original and innovative. Some books are readable, some are genius … The Rabbit Hutch is both!” – John S., Bookseller

“This book is your next Book Club pick and puts Tess Gunty on the map as ‘one-to-watch’. Her unflinching, raw character portraits lead the reader through a roiling build of frustration, restlessness, trauma and explosive self-realization.” – Amanda Y., Bookseller

“A difficult and complex read that explores loneliness, abuse and psychological disorder. If Rear Window were set in a dying, Midwestern town … There’s a lot to talk about here – some of the scenes will stay with you long after you’ve finished.” – Maggie W., Bookseller

“In the center of a gentrifying Rust Belt town, lies The Rabbit Hutch, home to the lost, the lonely, and the lovelorn. Tess Gunty’s novel debuts a new transcendent literary voice that brings these residents to life and the decisions that force their paths to collide in an ending that is as unexpected as it is shocking.” – Kevin R., Bookseller

“The Rabbit Hutch demands your attention from the very first line and refuses to let go. A story about the loneliness of modern society’s constant connection, Gunty provides a totally unique read that I could not put down and have not been able to stop thinking about.” – Katie V., Bookseller

“Tess Gunty is without a doubt an author to watch! Her characters expressed and represented so many ideas and points of view – all told with Gunty’s unique turns of phrases. I found myself marking sentences and saying to friends ‘you have to read this!’” – Craig B., Bookseller