Nothing happens in this book, and yet everything happens. Just like life. An ordinary story of an ordinary woman: her husband left for no apparent reason, he seems to think he has a right to her life even if he provides no support for their daughter, and she’s trying to navigate the pressure of everyday life. Her sole guidance? Light. Light is a supporting character, a material, and the woman needs it like air, even when it’s menacing, even when it’s a source of threat.
This book will resonate hard if you know Jun’ichirō Tanizaki‘s In Praise of Shadows, in which the author theorises that women are meant to stay in the shadows. It’s a soft act of rebellion against what’s expected and a soft cry on the difficult lifespan of a child between two and three, the age of tantrums and sudden cries, piled on top of the challenges of settling without a child.
Read reviews on Goodreads, and you’ll see how books like these — normalising a woman’s human struggles and sufferings — are sorely needed.
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