A gem! An exercise in the art of understatement and a great example of fruitful experimentation with the novel form. Telling a life in mini vignettes as it is really: a loosely connected sequence of events happening to you for or despite your efforts.

The speaker feels authentic, though you’re aware of the pruning and cleaning the author has done to condense a lifetime into precious little nuggets. There is so much beneath the surface, so much packed in. Scanlan achieves something like Hemingway’s plainness and terseness without imposing her personality so much. Fitting, as she’s telling somebody else’s story.