The New Animals

The sardonic U.S. debut from New Zealander Adam takes a scathing look at Auckland’s fashion scene. It’s 2016 and 40-something stylist Carla has seen it all. She regards her younger coworkers with bemusement, acting, one of them notes, as if they were “somehow going to destroy a world that was already fucking ruined.” Her only confidante is fellow stylist Duey, with whom she’s been friends since childhood. Tommy, the clothing label’s millennial owner, fancies himself a born leader and lives in an apartment above the label’s offices, which Carla suspects was purchased by his parents. Despite his ambition, Tommy struggles to keep up with skilled designer Sharona, who resents his privilege and befriends Carla and Duey. Free-spirited model Elodie, who sleeps with Tommy and one of his other business partners, is much cannier than anyone suspects, and after the various characters fall in and out of bed with one another, a feverish final act turns everything upside down. Adam projects a wearied and sneering perspective onto each of the players, which can feel a little one-note until she works up to the grand finale (Sharona’s outlook could apply to the novel: “Everything becomes bearable. Eventually”). Though a bit of a slog, it’s worth seeing through to the end. Agent: Martin Shaw, Shaw Literary. (Oct.)