This Little Light

a novel by Lori Lansens

PRAISE FOR THIS LITTLE LIGHT

“Compelling female narrators, of course, are a hallmark of Lansens’s work. The same deft conjuring of personality that made The Girls (her acclaimed novel about the world’s oldest conjoined twins) so unforgettable is at work here.”
 —THE GLOBE AND MAIL

“Margaret Atwood fans awaiting her sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale now have the perfect dystopian novel to tide them over. Fellow Ontario writer Lori Lansens’ speculative fiction, This Little Light, depicts an all-too-plausible America in the year 2024. Birth control has been criminalized, police drones fill the sky and right-wing born-again Christians reign supreme. When teenage resisters Rory and her best friend Fee are accused of bombing their posh California high school’s American Virtue Ball, they’re forced to go on the lam, hounded by law enforcement in the real world and swarmed by trolls online. Told over the course of 48 hours, the story serves up a high-speed plot shot through with scathing critiques of current political movements working to undermine women’s power.” —TORONTO LIFE MAGAZINE

“Lori Lansens’ This Little Light is kind of a millennial’s take on The Handmaid’s Tale. It’s complex and fun, and a super interesting look into what it is to be a teenage girl in these times…. I’m a huge fan of [Lansens]. I’m working on turning this into a series with Universal.” — KATHLEEN ROBERTSON, actor, Northern Rescue

“In This Little Light, Lori Lansens imagines a near-future that is stark, visceral and terrifyingly real. Hallelujah for the audacious self-professed heathen, Rory Ann Miller, who holds the adults in her world accountable while reminding us to never stop fighting for freedom. This book is one hell of a wake-up call. I was rooting for Rory from page one.” — AMI MCKAY, author of The Witches of New York, The Virgin Cure, and The Birth House

“Lansens throws her readers right into the action and keeps them there, as thirsty, hungry, and frightened as two young girls on the run. A crazy-good coming-of-age thriller that will make you sweat, starting at page one.” — CHRISTINA DALCHER, author of the bestseller VOX

THE HANDMAID'S TALE MEETS MEAN GIRLS
A FEMALE CATCHER IN THE RYE FOR THE 21st CENTURY

Rory Miller and her best friend Fee are teen girls on the run, accused of planting a bomb at their posh California private school during a much-anticipated chastity ball, where they swear to their fathers that they will remain virgins until marriage. They watch their attempted capture crowd-sourced by Christian zealots and bounty hunters on social media and cable news. Terrified, alone, and not sure whom they can trust, the girls struggle to understand their sudden infamy as the media brands them “Villains in Versace.”

Taking place over the course of 24 hours in the year 2024, in a country that has swung far right with illegal abortion, probationary citizens, and vigilante vengeance in God’s name, This Little Light is Rory’s blog, a real-time narration of their perilous hours in hiding, their dangerous attempts to find safety, and Rory’s response to the onslaught of accusations leveled against them. It’s also an uncensored journey into Rory’s world of uncommon wealth, predatory men, and Kardashians. To understand how they got there, Rory examines all that came before and describes what life is like for two American girls who have been unjustly labelled the “New Face of Holy War.”

Lori Lansens has nailed southern California culture, especially wealthy Calabasas, and what it may become just a few years from now. It’s the culture of ten-acre private Christian schools (whether you are a Christian or not), triple-gated communities, celebrity worship, and both religion and surveillance run amok, including evermore stringent restrictions on women’s bodies. Channelling the voice of her teenage daughter, Lansens has produced a chilling and fast-paced doozy of a rant.

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82,500 words
Finished books now available

RIGHTS SOLD

US: The Overlook Press, August 2020
Canada: Random House Canada, August 2019
North American English Audio: Penguin Random
      House Canada
French Canada: Éditions Alto


ABOUT LORI LANSENS

(Photo: Mark Raynes Roberts)

Lori Lansens was a successful screenwriter before she burst onto the literary scene in 2002 with her first novel Rush Home Road. Published in eleven countries, Rush Home Road received rave reviews around the world. Her follow-up novel The Girls was an international success as well. Rights were sold in 13 territories and it was featured as a book club pick by Richard & Judy in the UK, selling 300,000 copies. Her third novel, The Wife's Tale, was published in ten different territories, while her fourth novel, The Mountain Story, had rights sold in eight. Born and raised in Chatham, Ontario, Lori Lansens now makes her home in Los Angeles with her two children.