Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book.The entire time I was reading this I was working to understand the path of this. I could see what the author was doing with vague descriptions, low personal connections and the storyline. However, it missed the mark for me. Whether it was my headspace is debatable, but I cannot see this one at the top of any lists.
I wanted to like it as the writing style was so unique, but I just couldn’t connect to it.

ARC Review To Place a Rabbit by Madhur Anand
Publication Date May 13/25

An ecological scientist attending a literary conference and meets the Novelist, who once wrote a novella that she destroyed as an act of performative art. The novella was translated into French, which the Novelist doesn’t speak, and is the only copy remaining. The Scientist impulsively offers to translate it. Longing to move beyond scientific writing, she sees this as an opportunity to confront her own writers block and to write a fictionalized version of her sapphic relationship with her French Lover.

Written in a classic romance style - think Virginia Woolf, this novel is both imaginative and intellectually provocative. It meditates on the nature of translation, not just of literature and language, but of emotion. memory, desire and identity. Through the exploration of translation, the novel explores how we reshape past loves and fictionalize our stories, allowing the reader to draw rich comparisons between literary and emotional translation.

Artfully layered and poetically written the novel raises questions for reflection such as: Does romance experienced in a different language feel different? Is all life just a “mise en abyme”?Is all desire a form of triangulation? This is a contemplative meditation on love and the mourning of unrealized possibilities.

Though written in a cool, almost clinical tone, - with characters unnamed, it remains emotionally resonant.

Anand’s poetry roots shine through in her lyrical prose. This is a wonderful debut novel and I look forward to see what she writes in the future.

rounding up from 3.75

this novel is a compelling exploration of desire, language, and the complexities of human connections. anand’s poetic background shines through as she weaves a story that is both thought-provoking and engaging. the story begins with a scientist offering to re-translate a novelists novella. what starts as a simple intellectual task unravels into something far more personal.

the protagonist’s re-translation process becomes an instrument for exploring not only the nuances of language but also the powerful effects of past love and memory. the scientist, whose neat and tidy life begins to unravel under the weight of her task, becomes consumed by the emotional ghosts of a love affair from her past.

this novel is charming and clever but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. despite its beauty, the descriptions of the translation efforts were at times disorienting and the characters hard to connect with. this certainly isn’t a dealbreaker, i think many would resonate with and enjoy this imaginative novel.

thank you to netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review