10 Nov / Luster by Raven Leilani [in Booklist]
*STARRED REVIEW
Edie is 23, has a bottom-tier publishing job, and inhabits a shabby sixth-floor Bushwick walk-up. Eric is 23 years older, a New Jersey archivist, and in an open marriage – with rules dictated by his wife. Their one-month online affair compels a first date … at Six Flags: “It’s hard not to be aware of an age discrepancy when you are surrounded by the most rococo trappings of childhood,” she muses. “I feel the high-fructose sun of the park like an insult. This is a place for children.” Despite initial misgivings (including not wanting to be any white man’s first Black date, ahem) an usual relationship develops that eventually finds Edie living in Eric’s home – at the invitation of his wife Rebecca – and becoming a companion-of-sorts to their adopted Black 13-year-old daughter, Akila.
Crafting what will prove to be some of this year’s most sparkling, spectacular prose, author Raven Leilani debuts an extraordinary portrait-of-an-artist-as-a-struggling-young-Black-woman. First-time narrator Ariel Blake readily embodies the odd couple – and odder family: her Edie seamlessly wavers between youthful earnestness and seen-too-much wariness; Eric is anxiously unpredictable; Rebecca detachedly in control; Akila surly with moments of aching vulnerability. Despite minor production glitches (clumsy volume adjustments, obvious afterthought insertions), Leilani’s brilliant Luster shines.
Review: “Media,” Booklist, October 15, 2020
Readers: Adult
Published: 2020