Dark Chapter | Winnie M Li

My debut novel, Dark Chapter, was first published in hardcover in June 2017, a few months before the #MeToo movement came to prominence. It’s a fictional retelling of my real-life stranger rape in Belfast, from both victim and perpetrator perspectives. After winning The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize 2017 by public vote, it was later nominated for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel, and shortlisted for The Author’s Club Best First Novel Award. It has been translated into ten languages and optioned for television.

Here’s the North American cover on the left and the UK/Irish cover on the right. The book’s also available in ebook, audiobook, and large-print editions.

Here’s what some people had to say about my book:

‘A brave and unflinching novel… Taut with suspense and drama. While shocking and deeply disturbing , it ultimately speaks to the power and triumph of the human spirit.’ Bernardine Evaristo MBE, Winner of the Booker Prize 2019
‘I highly recommend Dark Chapter…post-rape numbness, stifled rage, female victim alternating with rapist — how circumstances and accident come together tragically.’ Joyce Carol Oates
‘Extraordinarily courageous… humbling… A remarkable book to read in this time.’ A.L. Kennedy
‘That Li was able to write this novel, as both personal catharsis and public service, speaks volumes about her inner strength. Both a valuable social document and a riveting page-turner.’ Kirkus Reviews
‘Li does a fine job exploring how one incident can change the course of a life in this astute psychological study.’ Publishers Weekly
‘Defiant … direct … conveyed with skill and emotional force’ The Guardian
‘This debut, based on true events, is a thoughtful, empathetic portrayal of the challenges rape victims face when seeking justice.’ Booklist
‘Brave, raw and strikingly original, it is a story that will resonate for many years.’ The Daily Mail
‘Li infuses each character with an equal humanity.’ The Chicago Tribune

Click here to order the UK version on Amazon and here to order the US version. Or better yet, buy it through your local booksellers! For more on the novel’s various awards, click here.

Dark Chapter has generated a lot of conversation around the world — and continues to. Here’s a small selection of some of the reviews, features, and blogposts about it:

Here’s some of the foreign covers – you’ll notice my book’s sold as crime fiction in some languages and as literary fiction in others!

Here’s a list of the publishers in various languages (it reached the bestseller list in some countries) – including links to buy:

UK edition with Legend Press

US/Canada edition with Polis Books

Swedish with Norstedts (publishers of Stieg Larsson, Margaret Atwood, Elena Ferrante!)

Dutch with Harper Collins Holland

German with Arche Literatur Verlag

Complex Chinese (Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau) with Delight Press

Simplified Chinese (China and Singapore) with People’s Oriental

Korean with Hangilsa Press (publishers of Karl Ove Knausgard and Elena Ferrante!)

Czech with XYZ-Albatros Media

Icelandic with Almenna Bokafelagid

Many thanks to my agents and publishers who made Dark Chapter a reality. It seems like forever ago, when I was still worried if it would ever make it into book form. It’s been a long journey!

Publishers Weekly: International Hot Book Properties, July 2016

Publishers Weekly: International Hot Book Properties, November 2015

Book Trade Info: Norstedts Acquires Dark Chapter