This short novel is a paean to university poetry classes and obsessive love, through the intensely self-centric lens of a student away from home for the first time, groping her way toward adulthood as a queer woman in Toronto. As a deep-dyed introvert I know well the second-guessing and excruciating post-action analysis that can go into every encounter with another human.
This tale will surely speak to many young women exploring their sexuality once they’ve finally left their conservative small-town lives behind. However, the lack of development in any secondary characters may feel myopic if not claustrophobic. More mature readers may find the on-off-on relationship between the two adult women more worthy of interrogation than it receives at Natalie‘s hands. Her lack of curiosity about her lover’s life or interests--beyond 'Are you thinking about me when I'm not here?--and her occasional afterthought shows of interest in the doings of her friends and fellow students came across as selfish rather than sympathetic.
The writing is sometimes lyrical although reading about poetry the protagonist is reading, or wrote, or might write someday, is hardly as compelling as reading the poetry itself could be. While I appreciate the excavation of a slow coming-out process, I would have liked to see this introverted, largely oblivious protagonist gain some understanding of relationships deeper than “that is the one I was in then, and this is the one I’m in now.”
This novel came to me via Netgalley in expectation of my honest review.
The Adult
Bronwyn Fischer#Netgalley #lgbtq #university #comingout #comingofage #lesbian #parenting #shortbooks
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