A darkly funny debut about late-in-life queer relationships and smalltown shenanigans for readers of Sigrid Nunez and Jen Beagin

'Surprising and spellbinding' Angie Kim, author of Happiness Falls Agatha and Alice are in love. Agatha, a celebrated painter and even more famous recluse, finally wants to settle down. But Alice has dementia, and a lingering fixation on her late daughter, who's buried in her backyard. In an ideal world, Agatha would move Alice - and her daughter's remains, if necessary - into her isolated house in the mesa high above their New Mexico town. But Alice's son wants her safely shut up in an assisted living facility and her property deeds in his pocket. As unlikely allies come to her aid and secrets are unearthed that should have stayed below ground, Agatha engages in a ferocious battle of wills with the townsfolk who stand between her and happily ever after. Freewheeling, hilarious, moving and entertaining, I Am Agatha combines the sideways humour of Big Swiss with the heart and strong female characters of Olive Kitteridge.

"An evocative debut . . . Foley crafts a colorful portrait of a headstrong artist" - Publishers Weekly

"In a novel inspired by the life of the artist Agnes Martin, Foley invents a fictional scenario while capturing Martin's emotional essence ... A rich portrayal" - Kirkus reviews