I just finished Stacey D’Erasmo’s Tea, a book recommended to me long ago that I’d kept putting off. I mean, a book centering around a mother’s suicide? Who wants to read about that?
Turns out I was missing out. Tea is a stunningly beautiful, emotionally honest, and meticulously crafted novel. Its narrator, Isabel, was so thoroughly believable that I could not only identify with her – I mean really, who hasn’t been a 22-year-old dyke/experimental feminist filmmaker/ideologue with a haircutting girlfriend? – but also see her from the outside, with a little perspective. I thought the dialogue, both inner and outer, was a particularly strong point. Not big on plot, if that’s what you’re after, but it’s really nice to read a novel that has both craft and a feminist narrator.
I’ll keep posting reviews as I find good books.
