The only novel by avant-garde literary star Jane Bowles — a modernist cult classic that is mysterious, profound, anarchic and funny. Two 'respectable' upper-class women, Christina Goering and Frieda Copperfield, embark on separate quests as they descend into debauchery. Mrs Copperfield finds solace in Panama among the women of the local brothels; Miss Goering slowly abandons her comfortable life to pursue a stranger and more dangerous existence. A singular, endlessly surprising novel, updated with an introduction by Claire Messud.