THE GIN CLOSET

My Friday BNF pick…

THE GIN CLOSET
by Leslie Jamison

Within the first ten pages of Jamison’s debut novel, I wondered how many other books she has hidden away on her C drive. Because prose this beautiful can only come from years and years, and pages and pages, of practice.

This is the tale of young, hip, existentially dissatisfied Stella, who reaches out to her family’s black sheep — former-prostitute, alcoholic aunt Tilly. The two women tell the story through alternating first-person accounts. At first, Stella seems to be the wise and stable one, and perhaps the only person who can help Tilly. But as the narrative unfolds, we find the two to be rather similar. The way they see the world and express their views on it are different, sure, but they’re both contending with the specific disillusionment that is the province of women (i.e., struggles around men, self-identify, etc.).

The skinny: POETIC, GUT-WRENCHING PROSE.