This book is so rich in great things. It is about being a human and being an artist and it is just very real even at its most improbable moments.

Pretty much every scene comes across as being deeply felt and serious, and this seriousness combined with MJ’s humour is impressive. There are also lots of twists in the narrative that surprised me and then made me think “of course!” (e.g. when the protagonist meets Audra and realises that she’s already bought a quilt from her.)

Why not 5 stars?

Firstly because I didn’t like how the protagonist’s whisky money is presented as a kind of lucky accident when she is basically just so rich. She’s so rich that she can do anything, and she pretty much does. I think there’s some tension between that fact and the way she talks about hormones and ageing and desire and femininity as universal issues (or issues universal to women). This is someone who regularly flies from LA to Oakland to visit her girlfriend!

Secondly, because I’m still wondering about the role of queerness and/or lesbian desire in this novel and I thought the relationship with Kris was much less precisely described than the rest of the novel. Clearly lesbians are required for the protagonist’s quest to reach its conclusion - but why? This is probably something I can ramble about indefinitely; maybe I will edit this later to add my theories.