“Elizabeth Searle stretches the angles of friendship, the lines of love and the curves of lust... Her elegant prose and anything-but-PC gender play are pleasing to the mind and to the loins”
- The Boston Phoenix

“A writer remarkable for her sheer use of language”
- John Hawkes

GIRL HELD IN HOME, a novel

“GIRL HELD IN HOME gracefully walks the knife's edge between wild satire and ripped-from-the-headlines realism. Elizabeth Searle's new novel is sexy, funny, creepy and highly enjoyable”
- TOM PERROTTA

“Searle manages to spin a completely zany plot that holds some hard truths about prejudice, sexual politics and fear. This is one political novel that manages to convey its message with humor and insight.”
- Joanne Wilkinson, BOOKLIST

“A noir tale that harnesses the folly of our post-9/11 world...In this serio-comic novel, Searle has managed to take such meaty topics as bigotry, fear and hysteria and whip them into a tasty stew...Searle balances the moral and emotional sides of these issues, while serving up more than a dollop of satire.”
- Joan Silverman, PORTLAND PRESS HERALD

“Elizabeth Searle finds the over-the-top comedy in her breakneck new novel, GIRL HELD IN HOME... The result is touching, as well as funny”
- Clea Simon, THE BOSTON GLOBE

“A thrilling reflection of post-9/11 suburban America”
- Josie E. Davis on literallyplopReview

“A capsule of post-9/11 suburbia...loaded with its own dark discoveries and precarious desire...heaps of heartfelt wit...A complex deconstruction of that strange grey area that ecclipses hero and traitor, hostage and terrorist.”
- Rachael Katz, reviewing Searle and Matthew Salesses in DIG BOSTON

“In GIRL HELD IN HOME, Elizabeth Searle uses her signature zany brilliance to turn suburbia, adultery, parenting, politics and even terrorism into something new and insightful. Move over, John Cheever! Elizabeth Searle has arrived!”
- ANN HOOD

“A smart, quirky and ultimately profound tale of domestic suspense”
- JOSEPH FINDER

“Trademark Searle: quick with the life of the moment but also tuned to deeper implications”
- SVEN BIRKERTS

CELEBRITIES IN DISGRACE, a novella and stories

“Vivid and distinctive”
- BOOKLIST

“Energetic and unpredictable”
- LIBRARY JOURNAL

“Her novella demands attention for its nuance as well as its wallop.”
- KIRKUS REVIEWS

“Unpredictable and ripe with unique prose”
- BOOK Magazine

“Searle is able to tap into that elusive place where humor and tragedy converge... creepy and colorful... a fine collection.”
- TIME OUT NEW YORK

“An avalanche of sexual tension propels these narratives.
The title novella... is a miniature masterpiece.”
- NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

  Full quote on the novella from the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW:

“The title novella, which features a woman who wants to portray the skater Nancy Kerrigan in a television movie, is a miniature masterpiece that holds a dirty mirror up to our often obsessive fascination with the rich and famous.”

A FOUR-SIDED BED, a novel

“Bending gender and conventional notions about love and marriage, Searle’s bold and beautiful book reaches right past the sensationalism of a love triangle to offer us an intense and moving portrait of the different ways people can connect.” - BOOKLIST (starred review)

“Elizabeth Searle stretches the angles of friendship, the lines of love and the curves of lust... Her elegant prose and anything-but-PC gender play are pleasing to the mind and to the loins”
- BOSTON PHOENIX

“In clipped poetic language, Searle skillfully unwinds a psychosexual narrative.”
- NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

“[An] intense, deeply moving first novel... Unusually intelligent exploration of sexuality...”
- PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY

“Erotically charged... A moving meditation on loyalty and love.”
- SEATTLE TIMES

“A powerful, unsettling first novel... A bright, distinctive, haunting debut.”
- KIRKUS REVIEWS (starred review)

MY BODY TO YOU, a story collection

“Elizabeth Searle’s My Body To You is a book with obsessions, primal obsessions that too many short story writers wring safely out of their fiction... While their bodies play tricks on them, these women (and all of the central characters are women) suffer fascinating, subtle and mostly troubling interior journeys... Hypnotic... [An] extremely sensual book... Stories of life, death and the hunger in between.”
- THE BOSTON GLOBE

“A young writer, teeming with diction, intense as a laser beam, refuses to practice fiction by tape recorder... Her intensely crafted stories require undivided attention... To put it her way: visual equipment works. Auditory sense shines. Elegant touch triumphs. Reputation takes off.”
- PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

“Elizabeth Searle has written these stories in fire.”
- PLOUGHSHARES

“The pressure inside [the female protagonists]-- pressure to test the limits of the sensible, the approved, even the sexually possible-- is almost more than mere skin can hold...Command of technique, matched with Searle’s vision, makes this an impressive body of work.”
- LOS ANGELES TIMES