Songs of No Provenance

Bold, electrifying debut about a troubled indie folksinger for fans of Torrey Peters and Melissa Broder, set in a seductive music underworld reminiscent of Patti Smith or Viv Albertine.

A suspenseful, wildly engaging novel following a musician spiraling in self-doubt and self-searching after a night – and a relationship – gone wrong.

Songs of No Provenance tells the story of Joan Vole, an indie folk singer forever teetering on the edge of fame, who flees New York after committing a shocking sexual act onstage. With the threat of an internet storm looming over her, Joan seeks refuge at a writing camp for teenagers in rural Virginia, where she’s forced to question her own toxic relationship to artmaking – and her complicated history with a friend and mentee – while finding new hope in her students and a deepening intimacy with a nonbinary artist and fellow camp staff member.

Lydi Conklin boldly explores kink, shame, queer appropriation, fame hunger, cancel culture, trans nonbinary identity and how to make art without ego, all the while asking how Joan might forge a new future for herself.

Suffused with flashbacks to a musical underworld as seductive as it is seedy, Songs of no Provenance is a visceral, gutsy and profound debut novel about love, self-acceptance and clawing oneself to safety.

'A raw, emphatic novel of exceptional power' Carmen Maria Machado

'Takes your breath away' Katie Kitamura