Oscillates between plainspoken narrative and bold, italicized dialogues between Gish and her kvetching dead mother. The conceit is risky but pays off. The imagined colloquies punctuate the prose like counter melodies ... The exchanges are edged with humor and skepticism: the mother scoffing at or replying brusquely to her daughter’s reminiscences, questions, speculations ... What transforms it into a transcendent work of art is Jen’s empathy for all her characters.
Jen addresses her own contentious relationship with her mother in her new novel ... Jen writes conversations with her mother in bold typeface that range from a few sentences to a few paragraphs and give the story extra depth.
