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An achingly raw exploration of one womans attempt to relieve her trauma, and keep herself safe, through an unusual (albeit psychologically creative) set of behaviours.

Minoo hurts. So much so that as we come to understand her, this frazzled and frizzy haired middle aged woman, through flashbacks told back and forth in time, we witness tragic and unexpected events left by the path of her horrifically abusive relationship with her mother. Current-day Minoo is unable to manage a healthy relationship with her own self, let alone her now-adult daughter Roya. And her once seemingly perfect husband Atanas.

Without giving the plot away, suffice it to say that our first-person narrator in this book, a sock-puppet (yes you heard me right) named, as we will learn here, Ecology Paul, or Ou, will tell us Minoo’s story — her past, and her present, coming alive bit by bit with just about all the heartache,trauma and loss a reader can bear.

But this is also a story that radiates with the majesty of love, incredible tenderness, and longing, written so beautifully and poetically, that the reader cannot help but grow a little too, as we share in Minoo’s suffering, and her meandering journey to healing.

We hurt too. Our lives reflect any number of wounds, at any point. And our understanding of Minoo’s need to hide, to lock away the bits of herself revealed over time that her broken core finds too shameful to be faced or even named, unfolds as a slow and fascinating journey.

Highly recommended, this is a poignant and mesmerizing read, written with originality and the author’s characterstic deep and vulnerable intimacy. I loved it.

A great big thank you to the author, and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.