My Lesbian Novel

The scintillating and unclassifiable latest from Gladman (Houses of Ravicka) takes the form of an interview with a writer named Renee Gladman about her attempt to write a lesbian romance. The conversation, which takes place over several years with an unnamed artist, includes reflections on the lesbian romance genre, of which Gladman considers herself a “scholar” after reading hundreds of them (“I learned how much people who are not writing experimental novels have their characters eat pizza and watch TV. It was like getting a tour through a kind of living that had eluded me before”). Interspersed with the dialogue are excerpts from Renee’s lesbian romance in progress, which stars a New York City architect named June who becomes reacquainted with a woman named Thena and can’t remember what happened between them in the past. Taken together, the conversations and the novel in progress reflect Renee’s desire to both fulfill and subvert expectations of the romance genre. Readers of Gladman’s previous work will recognize her brilliant thinking and penchant for challenging experiments, though this is her most accessible book yet. She sketches a stimulating portrait of a writer and her process while provoking readers to look closely at works of literature and identify the “book within a book within a third book that’s practically invisible.” It’s a knockout. (Sept.)