To make her films, Eva must take out her eyes and use them as batteries. To make her art, Finn must cut open her chest and remove her lungs and heart. To write her novels, Grace must use her blood to power the word processor.

Suture shares three interweaving stories of artists tearing themselves open to make art. Each artist baffles their family, or harms their loved ones, with their necessary sacrifices. Eva's wife worries about her mental health; Finn's teenager follows in her footsteps, using forearm bones for drumsticks; Grace's network constantly worries about the prolific writer's penchant for self-harm, and the over-use of her vitals for art.

The result is a hyper-real exploration of the cruelties we commit and forgive in ourselves and others. Brewer brings a unique perspective to mental illness while exploring how support systems in relationships—spousal, parental, familial—can be both helpful and damaging.

This exciting debut novel is a highly original meditation on the fractures within us, and the importance of empathy as medicine and glue.

Nic Brewer is a writer and editor from Toronto. She writes fiction, mostly, which has appeared in Canthius, the Hart House Review, and Hypertrophic Literary, among others. She is the co-founder of Frond, an online literary journal for prose by LGBTQI2SA writers, and formerly co-managed the micropress words(on)pages. She lives in Kitchener, ON, with her partner and her dog. Suture is her first book.

Nic Brewer's profile page

• Short-listed, Foreword INDIES

"Suture is built out of biting prose and vivid imagery. It is not a novel for those averse to gore, yet still should be considered a must-read. Creatives will feel seen with Brewer’s description of the artistic process, and achieving suspension of disbelief is easy. Others will enjoy Suture because of its incredibly human characters, each imperfect and multifaceted." —Cloud Lake Literary

"Suture is a daring, visceral debut that examines the painful side of the creative process. Blending body horror with meditations on love, art, and forgiveness, this novel will startle and captivate you." —Catriona Wright, author of Difficult People

"I read this book with wonder–Brewer's confident prose swept me along. Hers is sure, sharp writing that doesn't flinch from tenderness. I felt this book in my body. I ached (in my heart and bones, along an old, spidery scar that split my chest in two) long after I set it down. What a privilege to read this work." —Gillian Wigmore, author of Glory

"Nic Brewer's Suture is a fleshy, flashy, not-for-the-faint-of-heart tale that poetically reimagines artmaking into the gory-yet-tender body horror that it has—perhaps—always figuratively been. Hold on to your guts." —John Elizabeth Stintzi, author of Vanishing Monuments and My Volcano

“This is a beautifully painful book, highly recommended.” —subTerrain Magazine

“Suture is Nic Brewer’s transgressively taught storytelling. The notes in these pages write desire, connection and art from the body’s vivid capacity for tenderness where the hard stuff tears. A nimble, fearless debut.” —Canisia Lubrin, Griffin Poetry Prize winning author of The Dyzgraphxst