wlehner_539Description
Lia, her husband Harry, and their beloved daughter, Iris, are a precisely balanced family of three. With Iris struggling to navigate the social tightrope of early adolescence, their tender home is a much-needed refuge. But when a sudden diagnosis threatens to derail each of their lives, the secrets of Lia’s past come rushing into the present, and the world around them begins to transform.
Deftly guided through time, we discover the people who shaped Lia’s youth; from her deeply religious mother to her troubled first love. In turn, each will take their place in the shifting landscape of Lia’s body; at the center of which dances a gleeful narrator, learning her life from the inside, growing more emboldened by the day.
Pivoting between the domestic and the epic, the comic and the heart-breaking, this astonishing novel unearths the darkness and levity of one woman’s life to symphonic effect.
Turner Heathcote @wlehner_539
August 13, 2022
4
I loved reading this. Looking two ways, this is a coming of age tale for Lia whilst she simultaenously heads towards death. The key characters and relationships are so convincingly drawn, with moments of such wisdom that it is hard to believe the author is in her mid-20s. It is beautifully lyrical and experimental, too, in ways that reminded me of Zadie Smith's "NW". However, the creativity is never random, showy or for its own sake. Overall, it's certainly not always an easy read, but don't let that dissuade you. There is so much to admire here. In short, I've never read anything quite like it.