Indelicacy had so many poignant themes for me. The struggle to find purpose and companionship, even when they feel at odds. Regret and repulsion of finery when you come from a past of struggle. A general distancing from environment. It was a novel I enjoyed in the moment though I struggled to recall a grounding element to carry it enough to be memorable.

The novella is particularly poetic, and reminded me of the haunting atmosphere of Jean Rhys’s work on women navigating gender and class within cityscapes. I’m particularly interested in the ways Cain uses space—particularly urban city planning—to delineate class lines and expose observations on gender. Throughout the novella, Vitória is navigating spacial belonging. For example, Vitória has a keen sense for the ways that city layouts create divisions between people. The bright windows of high-end boutiques act as a barrier between the wealthy and Vitória and her friend Antoinette. Similarly, Vitória’s preference for writing in the public botanical gardens exposes her to the attention of men who assert their right to her attention.

Quick read. Somewhat somber, a little quirky, but relatable. I wish it was a little bit longer, but I would definitely be interested in future titles by this author.

Thanks to Net Galley and Amina herself who was kind enough to send me an ARC after I had the pleasure of taking a course of hers. I apologize to all involved that I didn't do this sooner. This book, while not a love letter to marriage, is a love letter to creativity and art. There are so many spectacular lines in this that made me have to pause to consider them. This book is not for everyone that is for sure. If you want a lot of explosions or a lot of action, this is not for you. If you are in need of inspiration to follow your passion, look no further.

Weird” would be the way I would describe this short book, weird and introspective. The narrator is a cleaner at a museum. Although the city is never given nor whether the book is historical or contemporary, I pictured the city as being New York City. While cleaning, the narrator meets her wealthy husband and lives in a home where she spends her time as she wishes. As her love for her husband dims, she continues with her love of writing and in short pieces she describes paintings that have a relevance to her life. Amina Cain’s writing is flat and that mirrors the life of the narrator. She has two good friends, but even the friendships seem flat. But the introspection of the narrator brings to light emotions and thoughts many women might have.

This novel tells the story of a writer who flits from a job as a museum cleaner. to a rich man’s wife, to a solitary countryside resident. Through each endeavor, relationship, and hobby she seems to be encased in a delicate soap bubble— apart from the world yet keenly observing it. The narrator gives me very strong Eleanor Oliphant vibes, even if that novel really is not similar at all to this one.

This is a beautifully written story. I read this one slowly, so I could savor the language. My favorite parts of the book were the descriptions of the paintings. Such gorgeous writing!


A super big thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

I couldn’t get into this book. It just felt very aimless and the writing wasn’t as gripping as I would have liked it to be.

A haunting novel a story of Vitoria a woman is a cleaning woman in museum. loving the paintings immersed in writing,She suddenly finds herself married to a wealthy man a marriage she describes but never seems to be emotional about.never really immersed in.There are many layers to the story of her life writing friendships with women a book that drew me in, for a quite unique read.#netgalley#fs&g

An unusual novella about a woman named Vitoria who goes from working as a cleaner in a museum to being the wife of a wealthy man who thinks about the people who now do the work she once did. To be honest, the publisher comments about this made no sense to me- a ghost story without a ghost, a fable without a moral, etc. Read into Vitoria what you will. The language is spare and it's worth the time spent to enjoy it. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction.

A slim novel on privilege and the writing life. There is a certain sadness around the central character, although her story has her taking control of her own destiny, eventually. Excellent use of how relationships change.

Thanks to NetGalley and FSG for an ARC of this book.

The description of this book as being out-of-time, half Victorian era novel but also not intrigued me enough to request an ARC, and ultimately, it turns out that's not really my thing. I respect the craft and spareness of the prose here, but I would have bailed halfway through if I had picked this up from the library.

The protagonist starts as a cleaning lady in an art gallery and marries rich, somehow becoming a ghost in her own life as she deals with friends new and old, trying to figure out where she feels comfortable. There's a sparseness and coldness here that works, and it's a quick read (I got through it in 45 minutes), but it didn't really move me.

Vitória works as a cleaner in a museum. She cleans the bathrooms and polishes the benches but during her breaks she gazes at the art pieces and dreams. She writes her impressions of the paintings in a notebook which she never really intends for anyone to read. She writes because it makes her happy and helps her feel fulfilled in some way. There’s something beautiful about escaping from everyday life through art, either as an observer or as an artist. She leaves the drudgery and dreariness of her work behind through her writing, and when she marries rich she literally leaves it behind. While I’m not sure I entirely grasped the messaging of this book I do think that the idea of art as transformative was a part of it. That is a concept I completely support. Vitória wasn’t a likable character but she was in some ways an understandable character and this made her feel like a real person. I didn’t personally connect with her but I could relate to her feelings about the paintings. This was a very thoughtful, unhurried story that felt like it had a lot to say, but for me the significance was anything but clear.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.

“You’re different from when I last saw you,” she said.

“I married someone rich. Is that what you mean?”

She nodded. “It agrees with you.”

Vitória has been working since she was a child of twelve years old, years spent earning her keep, working her hands raw. Now a cleaner in an art museum alongside her friend Antoinette, she yearns for the freedom to think, write, exist for more than tidying up after the rest of the world. They spend their days dreaming of a time when Vitória can write and Antoinette will finally have a man to love, though sadly she is sure if she is lucky enough to marry her suitor will be dirt poor. Despite her ragtag life, Vitória finds pleasure in the small things, like the luxury of simply reading a book before bed at night. She has never felt she deserved anything, and even after her luck turns and she marries into wealth and comfort, she still imagines she is better fit to scrub the museum floors than peruse it’s paintings. She is too ashamed to face Antoinette, embarrassed by the easy wealth- after all, marriage was always her friend’s dream, not hers!

Through marriage she tries on being someone else, with creature comforts and time on her hands, will her writing unfurl? If it’s not love, then maybe rescue is enough. She will soon learn there are many ways a woman can be confined. She is much like a bug trapped in a jar, despite her windfall of luck. She finds time just as demanding, but now it’s about entertaining guests, decorating herself in the finest dresses and jewelry (a far cry from the ugly things she and Antoinette so hated). Struggling now with her husbands lack of faith in her intelligence, missing her dear friend she didn’t even say goodbye to, suspicious of the maid Solange who makes her feel like an impostor in her new life (there is no sisterhood bonding to be had there), the dream isn’t quite as she imagined. She enjoys the lovemaking, despite not being in love but is it enough? Vitória knows all too well what many women in her former life would give to be in her shoes. But would they too be as disturbed to learn pretty, expensive shoes pinch?

She is free, but has to ask her husband for everything, much like a spoiled child. She turns to dancing classes trying to flow with her new life. Luxury starts to feel so good, something to sink into and yet happiness eludes her still. She gets inventive in the bedroom and she tries to think of ways to become more worldly, to fit better into her husband’s world. After a time she finds her friend Antoinette again, which gets her thinking more about what she truly desires. So the cogs of her mind begin turning, is this the house she should be in or is there something else out there?

This is a novel about class which affords one opportunity or not. It is an exploration of desire, hope, and the chains of dreams. What does it take to get where you want to be? It’s distasteful to imagine someone marrying without love in their heart, but what if it’s a means to escape drudgery, poverty and hope to better your life? Is it really so shocking Vitória would prefer marrying a rich man over scrubbing floors and living with the threat of the streets nipping at her heels? Yet, gilded cages have their trappings too. It’s an old story. In both lives, she is looking for escape yet it should be easier with a full belly and money. The feminist theme swims throughout the chapters, she doesn’t feel she deserves a good turn, her writing is silly to her husband (what gravity could there be in her words, this slip of a thing, a poor, little female he rescued), that in a privileged life there is still a role to dress for, expectations and the sexual exploration (goes without saying). The shame, the shame for grabbing whatever she could.

I think the struggle I had was connecting with Vitória, I liked her friend Antoinette better. I think Vitória was distant which is strange because if I were to connect with any woman in this novel it should have been her. I actually would have liked more of Solange’s story, but it’s still well written. I liked it but the only fable, to my mind, was how fast the marriage happened.

Publication Date: Febraury 11, 2020

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

This is one of those ‘you pays your money and you makes your choice’ novels. Clearly the publisher believes it to be allusive, mysterious, deeply cultured and appealingly referential. Others might find it slight, bordering on pretentious and forgettable. I tend to the latter camp, feeling underwhelmed by the novel’s reaching towards interesting notions of self-determination and creativity. In fact there’s a shortage of delivery. And, to be brutally honest, a sizeable irritation factor in the central character. As novellas go, this one is a doodle spanning some topics worth consideration. Does it go there? Not really.

I’m the first person to review this book and I’d hate to be indelicate about it (buh dum dum), but it isn’t the sort of thing that’s easy to recommend. Even the official description of it…the fable without a moral, the ghost story without a ghost…it’s meant to be clever and alluring, but when you think about it, it just kind of spotlights the insubstantiality of the entire thing. Personally, I didn’t really think of it as either of those descriptors, I’m not sure what it was. In was hoping for something as terrific as the timeless classic Yellow Wallpaper. But no, this wasn’t it. This was…well, it was a story about a young woman who aspires to be a writer, but doesn’t have much to say, so jots down descriptions of things (such as her looking at works of art) instead. She works as a cleaner in a museum alongside another woman, whom she thinks of as a friend, although abandons completely when a wealthy man comes in and sweeps (oh no, the cleaning pun, hopeless) her off her feet. Now she has the means to live the life of luxury with a man she doesn’t love, but at least enjoys sexually and financially, and pursue her writing. Just like that, one chance meeting, and she jumps many steps on the class ladder in a society where class is determined strictly by income. Eventually, though, she becomes dissatisfies with luxury. Poignantly, her cleaner friend, with whom she reconnects, has married for love and seems to be happy despite financial straits. If there is a moral to be found in this book, that would be it. But this doesn’t seem to be a moral driven story, I’m not sure what drives it, actually. It’s nicely written, but it has a weird ethereal gauzy quality to it. Which is heavily reinforced by giving the characters foreign names and not establishing a specific geographic location of an era to the story. It’s a balloon just waiting to float away connected to a reader by nothing but a thin string. Which, frankly, isn’t an optimal level of reader/book connectivity. I was in a weird enough mood that somehow I didn’t mind it, especially since it’s such a quick read, maybe 80/85 minutes tops. But when I say it reads like a dream, I mean it literally, not like woohoo, this is awesome, but more like oh wow, ok, weird, what was that all about. It’s the sort of novel that makes you go in the end…yeah and. And there’s nothing. The author seems to specialize in short stories until now and that’s what this book reads like, a stretched out short story. It’s nice in its odd way, but certainly not for everyone. Thanks Netgalley.

I didn't get very far with this one--the writing style was a bit too obscure for me. I set it aside.