"Luster" by Raven Leilani

An audio book.

The narrator Edie is a black 23 year old woman, about the only black at her workplace. She had an abortion at 16. Her mother, an ex-pusher, committed suicide. When she lost her virginity years before, it hurt, but she didn't tell the man to stop because the pain made it more meaningful. At work she sleeps around - on the premises too. She likes painting, but hasn't done it for 2 years. She starts going out with Eric, a museum digital archivist who's 20+ years older than her, and married. She was ready to sleep on their first date, but it's weeks before they go to her flat. He asks to be painted by her. He sees all of her life (she lives in near poverty) before she sees any of his. When he has sex it's "less orgasm than exorcism" for him. When he's with her it's a "glandular free-for-all under her clothes".

They have sex in his house. Later she revisits and looks around the house. His wife, Rebecca finds her. She suspected already. Rebecca invites her for a meal. They've adopted a black girl, Akila, 13, who has few friends. She, like Edie, understands the terms and conditions.

Eric's angry. He hits her. She's ok with it. She initiates sex after. She's sacked, and can't afford the flat. While Eric's on a business trip, Rebecca invites her to move in. She's a coroner - her job's "like walking through a stranger's house and touching their things".

Eric tries to avoid Edie round the house. They meet in hotels. She passes time doing still lifes and playing RPGs with the daughter. The 2 of them think that they're treated over-generously because of their colour. Rebecca takes her to paint cadavers. During one of their hotel assignations he faints and is ambulanced to hospital. She's given a month's notice by Rebecca, who's still sleeping with Eric. They all go to Comicom, cosplaying.

She's pregnant, misscarriages. She finds a new job and a place to live. Rebecca helps her move and gets the narrator to paint her nude.

But of course there's much more to the book than the plot. It's character-driven, the low self-esteem leavened by wry observation about city/office life. At the end Edie has a new start, and Rebecca asks to be seen through her eyes.

Other reviews

• Diana Evans
• Holly Williams (Luster is both brutal and brilliant, and a debut that’s sure to still be topping best-of-the-year lists in 12 months’ time ... Leilani’s setup, manoeuvring Edie into their family home in New Jersey, stretches credulity, however, as do a few unlikely set pieces featuring the inscrutable Rebecca (dragging Edie into a moshpit at a thrash metal concert, for instance). But Leilani’s prose mesmerises; you go with her, wherever she decides to take you. Leilani’s prose mesmerises; you go with her, wherever she decides to take you And she delivers many killer lines along the way, sharpened by unexpected details and cynical insights.
• Goodreads (rated 3.57 - 75k+ votes)