MixedNew York Journal of BooksWanderer is a beautifully written (albeit translated from the French) short novel ... Léon provides the reader with a foray into a multilayered relationship ... Wanderer is not without its challenges. At times the reader can also be exasperated with both Hermin and Lenny, and the novel seems claustrophobic, as most of the action occurs in Hermin’s isolated house near the mountains during a snowy winter. Léon deliberately populates the story with few secondary characters, which leaves the narrative’s focus on Hermin and Lenny, but the effect is a lack of breathing room and the absence of perspective other characters perhaps might lend to the relationship ... Aside from writing lyrical, evocative prose, Léon’s other precocious talent is her understanding of people ... That Léon wrote this discerning novel when she was 21 speaks to future works that should explore a more expansive landscape.
