Iris and the Dead by Miranda Schreiber

This haunting exploration of love and desire, disability and madness, trauma and recovery, is a diaristic marvel for fans of Annie Ernaux.

Weaving personal memory with magic realism and folklore, Iris and the Dead asks: What if you could look back and tell someone exactly how they changed the course of your life?

For our narrator, that someone is Iris, the counsellor with whom she developed an unusual, almost violent bond. There are things she needs to tell Iris: some that she hid during the brief time they knew each other, and some that she has learned since. She was missing her mind the autumn they spent together and has since regained it.

Iris and the Dead unfurls the hidden power dynamics of abuse, offering a beguiling inquiry into intergenerational trauma, moral ambiguity, and queer identity.

Praise for Iris and the Dead

“Breathless, eerie, and experimental, Iris and the Dead rejects the redemptive trajectory of mental health recovery autofiction and instead passes the mic to the ghosts, asking: If your treatment-resistant depression could write its own spiritual autobiography, what would it say? Golems, ancestors, lovers, and psychiatrists are part of the chorus. A penetrating queer story that refuses to settle or resolve its lessons, choosing instead the greatest gift: transformation.” —Alex Leslie, author of We All Need to Eat

“Iris and the Dead is an unsettling story of an exploitative relationship, blurred boundaries, intergenerational trauma, a fraught medical system, and the shifting landscape of mental illness and recovery. This moving and meditative queer coming-of-age tale is written in lyrical prose vignettes that embrace desire, menace, and myth. Miranda Schreiber’s debut is as fierce as it is mesmerizing. A gorgeous book that will appeal to readers of Carmen Maria Machado and Daisy Johnson.” —Kathryn Mockler, author of Anecdotes

“Marvellous meditations on losing one’s mind.” —Heather O’Neill, author of Valentine in Montreal

Press Coverage

2025 ‘Best of the Rest’: Our Favorite Books of the Year — Ms. Magazine

Most Anticipated: Our 2025 Spring Fiction Preview —49th Shelf

“I can’t overstate how much I value attachment to whatever it is that speaks through us while being creative”: I’ve Been Meaning to Ask Miranda Schreiber —Send My Love to Anyone

“In this lyrical and original autofiction debut, Miranda Schreiber explores the coming out process of a young woman contending with depression, intergenerational trauma and an exploitative relationship with the person she looked to for help. Schreiber bravely reckons with themes of power, trust, love, loss and transformation.”—Ms. Magazine

12 or 20 (second series) questions with Miranda Schreiber —rob mclennan’s blog

Miranda Schreiber’s music playlist for her novel Iris and the Dead —Largehearted Boy

Excerpted: Iris and the Dead —All Lit Up

Queer Writing, Miranda Schreiber and MP Jenny Kwan/Future of the NDP —Radical Reverand podcast

Pride Stories for 2025: Great new books by LGBTQ2S+ Writers —49th Shelf

“A novel that, once finished reading, you’ll still hear breathing from the bookshelf.” —Girls on the Page

“Uncanny and captivating, Iris and the Dead weaves beauty into the darkness… Schreiber’s words will haunt those familiar with the feeling long after they’ve finished her slim novel.” —Roxane Hudon, Literary Review of Canada

“Iris and the Dead is uncomfortable in the way it feels so true, and perfect in the way its speaker finds her own voice.” —Wendy J. Fox, Electric Lit

“Iris and the Dead renders love, sickness, tragedy and the sublime lyrically and incisively, equal parts beautiful and haunting.” —Nicky Taylor in Conversation with Miranda Schreber, Maisonneuve

“Iris and the Dead is an aggressively good title, you know? Just incredible… fully immersive, ultimately troubling and triumphant.” —Alison Manley, The Miramichi Reader

Read an Excerpt from Iris and the Dead, the Debut Novel from Miranda Schreiber —Open Book

Women Asking Women: Joana Mosi & Miranda Schreiber —All Lit Up

“This is Schreiber’s first book and, damn it, I wish I’d written so well at her age.” —Cary Fagan, 49th Shelf

“Iris and the Dead is a triggering cautionary tale and a beautiful examination of generational resilience.” —Nortend Bookster, starred review