I believe I read this was Winter’s first novel and I was flawed by that because it’s entirely captivating and the pacing was honestly a breeze to read. This book is so damn funny, I really appreciate having that dry, dark British humour in a sapphic book as it’s something we rarely get. I genuinely had to stop consuming liquids whilst reading this after spitting my tea out at least four times. anyways this is the perfect mix of the crazy shit about crazy women I'm obsessed with reading about!!! would recommend to the other literary fiction about insane gay women enjoyers out there, but idk how many people would really enjoy this one the way I did lol at least based on the less than spectacular average ratings and reviews I was honestly most disappointed in the fact that none of the gay female characters we see in this book are explicitly lesbians, but no other labels for sexuality are really used for them so honestly whatever, I'm not fully ascribed to the post-modern identity politics etc stuff.

I found this novel deeply compelling and written with a level of complexity and attention to detail with enough absurdity (the absurdity inherent to human relationships, whether they be the romantic entanglements you find yourself in or between you and a tired ass doctor you only visit when you're at the height of your crazed eras) and unrealistically neat ending that was still worth the whole wild ride all the way through.

was it a perfect portrait of the loneliness and despair of a queer woman not over her breakup with a beautiful but ephemeral woman, in a relationship with another woman she despised but also couldn't stop committing to long terms plans/having sex with, the unresolved childhood trauma of an absent father and the abandonment of a mother, and the banalities and stress of owing her drug dealer money she doesn't have while working as a dishwasher at an upscale London restaurant and bar with a boss who calls her 'Puppy'? YES!!!!! I adored how this novel, following the blueprint of My Year Of Rest and Relaxation (sorry, I know, an overused comp title for sure), gives us a glimpse into the psyche of a highly disturbed, deranged, and unlikeable main character, a young woman on the run from her feelings, constantly chasing what has already been lost while stewing in her unresolved past.

Sedating elaine