When Lilly Dancyger was twenty-three years old, her best friend and cousin, Sabina, was violently raped and murdered. In the face of devastating loss, Dancyger stayed sane and whole by the magic and the medicine of her female friends. Each essay in First Love examines a different female friendship in her life.
A vivid, thoughtful and nuanced collection of essays ... The collection stands out not just for its elegant, unadorned writing but also for the way she effortlessly pivots between personal history and spot-on cultural criticism.
Dancyger’s ode to female friendship is affectionate, frank, circumspective, and passionate. Despite the traumatic nature of many of the memories she recalls, the author manages to infuse each page with an undercurrent of quiet, grateful joy. While the collection sometimes lacks cohesion—most notably in a chapter that focuses on a collaborative photography project that feels disconnected from the rest of the narrative—overall, this is a well-written and -paced read.
