Luster

Raven Leilani's debut, Luster, is a rocket-paced, sensual fever dream of sex, trauma, relationships and incisive perceptions. Edie, 23 and living in a shared Bushwick apartment, struggles with her low-level position in children's publishing, her uninspired sexual choices and her irritable bowel syndrome. Her painting is not going well, and she is a Black woman in New York City. "Racism is often so mundane it leaves your head spinning, the hand of the ordinary in your slow, psychic death so sly and absurd you begin to distrust your own eyes." Her affair with Eric seems refreshing, despite the 23-year age gap. Then Edie gets fired and evicted, and winds up in the middle of Eric's open marriage, living in their guest room in New Jersey--asked to mentor this white couple's adopted Black daughter, Akila. Luster is intoxicating and surprising. Leilani has crafted an unforgettable novel about a young woman making her own way. --Julia Kastner, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia

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