Wellfleet Public Library

Susan Blood - “Hermit” in conversation with Kathy Shorr

Holly's carefully assembled life is unraveling, and she needs a reset. She creates a DIY home retreat, complete with scavenged cushions and a vow of inner peace. For one shining instant, it works. Then chaos returns. In a desperate bid for solitude, Holly accepts a position as a garden hermit on a historic estate. Alone in a weather-beaten shed, she leans into silence, simplicity, and the hope that isolation will bring clarity. But winter is harsh, the estate holds secrets, and the person who took everything from her once is back, this time threatening everything she's become. Sharply funny, unexpectedly thoughtful, and quietly suspenseful, Hermit is a novel about reinvention, resilience, and finding wisdom in the mayhem of life.

Susan Blood is the recipient of an Arts Foundation of Cape Cod Written Word Fellowship and Provincetown Community Compact dune shack residency, where Hermit was first drafted. A collection of Susan's essays, How Not to Do Things, was published in 2017. Her radio show Opera Betty has aired since 2010 on WOMR.