Someplace Like This

This book is a beautiful read. Ms. Ashley's way of taking apart the everyday and turning it into something shocking and new makes it hard to look away from the page. The setting is rich, the characters fascinating, and the language is beautiful.

Poet Renée Ashley's debut novel explores the delicate anatomy of a marriage. Thirty-seven year old Dore is wounded and unsure, almost muted in her reactions to the outer world, as she and her husband Evan arrive at their island house, a place now furnished as a refuge for Dore. The two have recently reconciled after a separation, and we witness their fleeting stabs at finding common ground. When Evan returns to the city for his job, Dore is left alone among birds and tourists. She is ravenous, savoring shrimp scampi, spinach salad, oranges, breads, cheese, and chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream as though trying to fill the emptiness inside her left by a grief Evan can never share. With biting and often hilarious wit, Dore finds her slow way back from loss and uncertainty. Not surprisingly, Ashley's prose is stunningly beautiful, with an elegance infused with emotion. Her eye for detail, in both description and characterization, makes this novel a true delight to read. Dore is lovable through and through, a woman who intuitively knows what counts and what doesn't, who knows how to make fun of herself, who is generous and caring. Dore's affection for the other characters is contagious, and the reader won't want to let them go when the novel ends.I highly recommended this slender novel for readers of literary fiction. Its lyrical style and introspection may not be right for some, but others will be delighted to discover this gem.