Sarah BernsteinPhotography Robin Irvine Sarah Bernstein discusses her debut novel, The Coming Bad Days – a mysterious and timely story of dread, isolation and feminine vulnerability May 13, 2021 Sarah Bernstein’s debut novel, The Coming Bad Days (Daunt Books), is an enigma. “One question I struggle with most is what is the book about,” the Montreal-born author admits. “I was trying to create a sense of atmosphere, so it’s sort of hard to describe in one sentence.” But that atmosphere can be defined, at least in part, by its dread. Simmering under the surface of the book is a feeling of apprehension; a fear that something bad is about to happen, that a boiling point is about to be reached. It’s a sensation many of us know well, particularly after the events of the last year.