Member Review

"Leo's camera bag. Unmistakable. Smelled like fixer fluid and something herbal - probably guilt... She opened the bag slowly, wary it might start narrating her repressed trauma in a British accent. Instead: his camera, four film canisters, a small leather journal, and - of course - a folded note in Leo's familiar scrawly handwriting, all caps like he was yelling from another dimension."

A short novel about grief and healing - but less depressing than that sounds. I really liked the effervescent and engaging narrative voice. There are some wonderful, well-observed lines. The main character, Liz, develops the rolls of film left by her late friend Leo, and in this process it is like he is guiding her through grief from the beyond the grave. The story reminded me a bit of Nanni Moretti's film 'The Son's Room', where photographs also provide notes of grace, and of Galia Admoni and Wendy Allen's joyful poetry chapbook 'I Get Lost Everywhere, You Know This Now'.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.