'Beautifully written, mysterious and compelling' Janet Fitch

'Permission excavates the uncertain landscape that lies just beneath the Hollywood dream factory we think we all know and against all odds finds something sacred there.' Ryan Ruby, author of The Zero and the One

'Formidable in its elegance and fierce in its simplicity, Saskia Vogel's writing leaves the reader stunned and moved and wanting more.' Andrea Scrima, author of A Lesser Day

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A raw, fresh, haunting, emotionally and sexually honest literary debut.

When Echo's father gets swept away by a freak current off the Los Angeles coast, she finds herself sinking into a complete state of paralysis. With no true friends and a troubled relationship with her mother, the failed young actress attempts to seek solace in the best way she knows: by losing herself in the lives of strangers. When by chance Echo meets a dominatrix called Orly, it finally feels like she might have found someone who will be nurturing and treasure her for who she is. But Orly's fifty-something houseboy, Piggy, isn't quite ready to let someone else share the intimate relationship he's worked so hard to form with his mistress.

Permission is a love story about people who are sick with dreams and expectations and turn to the erotic for comfort and cure. As they stumble through the landscape of desire, they are in a desperate search for the answer to that sacred question: how do I want to be loved?