PositiveFiction Writers ReviewThe stories in Clare Sestanovich’s brilliantly crafted debut, Objects of Desire, which will be published by Knopf in June, wrestle with the realities of love, sexuality, desire, and the myriad intimacies—including disappointment and loss—that comprise women’s lives. The collection charts the experiences of women of different ages and sociocultural backgrounds as they come to terms, as the title implies, with the reality of their object of their desire ... Whether finally recognizing these objects for what they are—vessels for desire, containers we’ve filled with what we wished they held rather than what they actually contain—or finding ways to release ourselves from feeling the need to define ourselves through other people, each of the characters in these stories helps us realize the difference between what an authentic loving relationship is versus what one wants the relationship or situation to be ... Though to say that this book is only about desire and relationships is to miss how the stories in this collection act as a mirror, reflecting the day-to-day experiences of women. How the texture of life is also made up of the most mundane: conversations with children over the phone, teaching a class, walking to a bar to meet friends. For despite how powerfully the objects of our lives might obsess us or orient our attention, they are but one aspect of a larger lived experienced. This is as important to pay attention to as the permutations of love and loss. Sestanovich’s writing is clever and rich with layers, just like her characters. And the textures of her sentences are as nuanced as desire itself.
