Luster

A Novel

in English, 240 pages,
MacMillan Publishers, June 08, 2021
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Edie is stumbling her way through her twenties—sharing a subpar apartment in Bushwick, clocking in and out of her admin job, making a series of inappropriate sexual choices. She is also haltingly, fitfully giving heat and air to the art that simmers inside her. And then she meets Eric, a digital archivist with a family in New Jersey, including an autopsist wife who has agreed to an open marriage—with rules. … Raven Leilani’s Luster is a portrait of a young woman trying to make sense of her life—her hunger, her anger—in a tumultuous era. It is also a haunting, aching description of how hard it is to believe in your own talent, and the unexpected influences that bring us into ourselves along the way.

The novel explores the complexities of Edie’s feelings about her abortion, including both the traumatic memories and the potential for a sense of fondness or even a sense of freedom associated with it. Edie’s thoughts and experiences with abortion are woven into the narrative of her life, relationships, and her evolving understanding of herself.