Still Life

A writer’s lost loves resurface during a trip down memory lane in Burke’s piercing debut. Edith McAllister, a writer and trans woman, visits Boston from Texas to give a guest reading and lecture at her college friend Adam’s undergraduate class. The visit also marks her first reunion with her old college friends since her transition, including her ex-girlfriend, Tessa, with whom she once shared a best friend, Valerie, who was Edith’s sometimes lover and who died 17 months earlier in a car crash. When Edith learns Tessa is engaged to a cis man, it sends her into a spiral. Back in Texas, she can’t focus on her own life, despite the looming deadline for her second book and her need to find a new apartment. Burke alternates Edith’s crisis with chapters devoted to her college years, offering a peek into the depth of her messy relationships with Tessa and Valerie. The characters are brought to life with brash and snappy dialogue (“Can you believe I’m nobody’s wife? Look at how fucking domesticated I am,” says an apron-wearing Valerie). Readers will devour this visceral story of desire, love, and self-discovery. (Sept.)