The Unworthy

A Novel

By: Agustina Bazterrica

Narrated by: Imani Jade Powers

THE JAW-DROPPING NATIONAL BESTSELLER
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2026 ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION

The long-awaited new novel from the author of global sensation Tender Is the Flesh: a thrilling work of literary horror about a woman cloistered in a secretive, violent religious order, while outside the world has fallen into chaos.

From her cell in a mysterious convent, a woman writes the story of her life in whatever she can find—discarded ink, dirt, and even her own blood. A lower member of the Sacred Sisterhood, deemed an unworthy, she dreams of ascending to the ranks of the Enlightened at the center of the convent and of pleasing the foreboding Superior Sister. Outside, the world is plagued by catastrophe—cities are submerged underwater, electricity and the internet are nonexistent, and bands of survivors fight and forage in a cruel, barren landscape. Inside, the narrator is controlled, punished, but safe.

But when a stranger makes her way past the convent walls, joining the ranks of the unworthy, she forces the narrator to consider her long-buried past—and what she may be overlooking about the Enlightened. As the two women grow closer, the narrator is increasingly haunted by questions about her own past, the environmental future, and her present life inside the convent. How did she get to the Sacred Sisterhood? Why can’t she remember her life before? And what really happens when a woman is chosen as one of the Enlightened?

A searing, dystopian tale about climate crisis, ideological extremism, and the tidal pull of our most violent, exploitative instincts, this is another unforgettable novel from a master of feminist horror.

Beautiful writing

I wish I could read it again for the first time. Dark. Compelling. Profound. Wild imagery. Palpable creativity. Love it.

Another one!

Bazterrica is a phenomenal world builder and storyteller, with just the right amount of grief and gore.

I feel like this story will haunt me for a long time

The narration was wonderful, which can do often make or break any book. The imagery portrays a terrifying world of ecological collapse and the devastation of society that inevitably follows.

world-building

I loved how fast the author was able to paint such a vivid world. Agustina Bazterrica can do in 5-pages what takes other authors whole novels to do.

Something great is coming in A.B.

This was an incredibly intense little book. I loved how perverse and macabre the worlds Bazterica makes are. I truly think she may one day write a novel as influential as the Brothers Karamazov or Catcher in the Rye. I loved both of her novels so far, but simply couldn’t get into 19 Claws. I think she just needs more pages to play with. There is even a sentence in this book towards the beginning, about the lines of the characters writing being made of her blood, sweat, and filth (or something like that), and it was very illuminating. In a time when Dystopian Literature is so over-done it’s gross, she somehow makes the idea interesting and fresh. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. Although I hope her publishers don’t rush her, and give her the time she needs to create something amazing once again.