The First House

The First House dissects the tyranny of family with surgical precision, unsparing in its depiction of the delusions of marriage and motherhood - the novel boils with brutal insight. Avni Doshi is among the finest prose stylists at work today; every page is exhilarating – Katie Kitamura, author of ‘Audition’
Sharply intelligent, richly allegorical, unsparing psychodrama… An eviscerating study of the quiet violence of domestic discord, and the search for a new freedom * The Bookseller (Editor’s Choice) *
Taut and deliberate, punctuated by flashes of unsettling clarity… Doshi excels at rendering the interior life in all its contradictions, allowing tenderness and irritation, longing and resentment, to coexist without resolution… She is particularly deft at capturing this sense of disorientation, where grief does not present itself cleanly but seeps into the everyday * The New York Times Style Magazine: MENA *
Like Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage or Ferrante’s Days of Abandonment, The First House is at times brutal and harrowing, with sentences and scenes sharpened to a dagger point. But it is also lush, filled with symbols and signs and a kind of freedom that comes only through falling apart. I was consumed by this novel – Amina Cain, author of ‘Indelicacy’
Bracing, unsentimental, and beautifully written. The end days of a marriage are the beginning of a new life. In this story of rebirth, each page is sharp, piercing, and totally defiant of the expected. – Douglas Stuart, author of ‘Shuggie Bain’
Avni Doshi’s beguiling second novel would seem to be about marriage and divorce. But The First House is interested in more than the subject of romantic love (and its end), asking questions about what it is to be a good parent and dutiful child, about family bonds and the role of fate in shaping our lives. It’s a dreamy, off-kilter, and beautiful book that delights in resisting its reader’s expectations – Rumaan Alam, author of ‘Leave the World Behind’
A blistering tour-de-force of a novel that will tunnel itself into your ribcage and linger for long afterwards. Surreal, both contemporary and timeless, and uncomfortably all-too-human – The First House cements Avni Doshi as one of the most original and astute writers working today – Sharlene Teo, author of ‘Ponti’
The First House reads like something out of mythology - clever, insightful, laced with a surreal and sinister magic. And the narrator knows exactly which loose threads to pull. Avni Doshi is a writer who understands what tethers us to those we love – Katie Yee, author of ‘Maggie’
Precise, sharp, engrossing – an account of the end of a marriage [that] will surprise the reader. A remarkable novel – Deepa Anappara, author of ‘The Last of Earth’
Avni Doshi has written a modern myth of transformation dissecting the romantic image of the family. Exacting and transfixing, a fierce intelligence illuminates every page – Anna Metcalfe, author of ‘Chrysalis’

Avni Doshi was born in New Jersey in 1982. Her debut novel, Burnt Sugar, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2020, longlisted for the Women’s Prize 2021, and won the Sushila Devi Award 2021. It was named a Book of the Year by The Guardian, The Economist, The Spectator, The New York Times Book Review, and NPR, and has been translated into 26 languages. Doshi’s writing has appeared in British Vogue, Granta, and The Sunday Times. Her second novel, The First House, will be published in July 2026.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.