Jessica Lott's The Rest of Us is the story of Terry, a photographer in New York whose life is jolted by seeing the obituary for Rhinehart, one of her college professors, a Pulitzer-winning poet with whom she had fallen in love. Then, just as suddenly, she runs into Rhinehart--still, in fact, very much alive--and the chance reunion after 15 years leads to a renewal of their relationship.
Rhinehart struggles with his history and protracted writer's block while Terry begins to realize her long-dormant artistic aspirations, guided by Rhinehart's estranged wife, Laura, an art collector who takes an interest in her work and introduces her to the New York art scene with its power brokers, celebrity and influence. In an ironic twist, it is in part Terry's neurotically self-involved friend Hallie who helps her negotiate the differences between love, purpose and seduction.
Terry is a reflective and observant narrator, tossing off literary references alongside vivid descriptions and critiques of the New York art scene and its poseurs as she recounts Rhinehart's story and her own. While the resulting inside peek at the rarified cultural scenes is appealing, it sometimes has the forced feel of namedropping. Yet the novel effectively conveys the enormous personal courage that true creative expression can require; its portrait of Terry's struggles are sensitive and believable. Lott's writing is lovely and lyrical, and her themes of the place of art, the changing ways we love and the people we hold close over time lend texture to an intelligent and ambitious literary debut. --Jeanette Zwart, freelance writer and reviewer