Böcker av Andrea Routley

THIS UNLIKELY SOIL, the sophomore collection from Lambda Literary Award finalist Andrea Routley, is a quintet of linked novellas exploring the failures of kindness and connection among a rural west-coast community of queer women. In Midden, Naomi, recently split from Rita and apathetically venturing into online dating, sifts through the remains of past relationships after Rita accuses her of emotional abuse. In Appropriate Behaviour, Freddie, suffering from a brain injury, seeks resolution with a neighbour after his dog bites her, but a lifetime of mixed messages yields disastrous results. In Guided Walk, Miriams latest clumsy infatuation pushes her to change her life, to finally come out on a guided walk with her cousin. When her cousin beats her to it, Miriam descends into pettiness before finding her way out of the woods. THIS UNLIKELY SOIL, a finalist for the 2020 Malahat Review Novella Prize, is the story of Elana, who, following the sudden death of her mother, attempts to manufacture a meaningful relationship with a former partners teenaged son. The quintet concludes with Damage, the sequel to Midden. Told from Ritas perspective, this story explores classist exploitations within many relationships and asks what our responsibilities are in saying no.

In this debut collection, Andrea Routley muddies the line between the physical and emotional worlds: reality becomes not simply what is in front of us, but a mutable, fragile place in the imagination. On the verge of divorce, and in a pot-induced haze, Tom Douglas prepares to roast a pork shank in his new--and contentious--Authentic Italian Brick Oven, but some surprise visitors threaten to spoil the dinner. In a story set in 1997, the last earthbound member of a Hale-Bopp suicide cult reconsiders her final act. After being accused of sexual harassment, a sharp-witted but naive teenager discovers a surprising truth about her teacher. In the title story, "Jane and the Whales," Jane is on a quest to discover the meaning of her uncontrollable astral projections, which always lead her back to the same diminishing gay bar. Many of Routley's characters suffer loss, shame and guilt. But the promise of clarity comes only with doubt and that frightening unravelling of certainty.