Saving Angelfish: A Novel (Tin House New Voice)

A part-time actress and full-time junkie, Maxella Gordon's life is unraveling fast. She's estranged from her parents, in debt to the neighborhood dealer, and in frequent conversation with an angel figurine she ripped off from the local Rite-Aid. After an unfortunate incident, Max is forced to sell for another dealer, the vicious, legless Carlotta. Struggling to get out of debt, off drugs, and away from Carlotta, Max is increasingly desperate to find a way out.
Drugs and violence haunt everyone in Max's world, yet still they draw together: her parents, still holding each other up though their marriage ended years ago; her tutu-clad buyer, who joins them for Christmas dinner; and Max's own attempt to help Carlotta's son Albert break away from his mother. Honest and unpredictable, laced with flashes of wit and poignancy, "Saving Angelfish" is a gritty portrait of the dark world simmering just below LA's gleaming surface.