This was tense and claustrophobic - and I couldn't put it down. ( )

Priya and her wife, Alex, have moved from Toronto to the countryside. At the same time, Priya shuts down all her social media accounts because she is trying to avoid all contact with her long-time friend, a straight man named Prakash. The blurb on the back cover makes this story sound like a thriller, but it is a psychological examination of friendships and love set in a context of homosexuality and immigrants of colour. The novel also explores memory and forgetting.

After six years, Prakash re-establishes contact with Priya, and she invites him to visit her and Alex. He jumps at the chance. Alex is not happy that she hasn't been consulted about having an overnight guest. There is a good build up of tension between the two of them, and within Priya's mind about her upcoming reunion.

I enjoyed the first part of the novel, told from Priya's perspective best. We learn her story and a lot about her relationship with Prakash, which is deep, loving, but fraught with tension. In the second part, Prakash arrives for his much anticipated and dreaded visit. I enjoyed this part less because it was more of the same....wondering and worrying...rather than resolving or escalating things. I guess life's like that.

The writing is very good. I might read more by this author. ( )

I've been trying to read this for over three months. I pick it up and read a bit and set it aside. I'm half-way through it.

It's a first person narrative by a woman in a same sex living relationship. She is musing about the expected visit by a male friend. Is he more than a friend? Perhaps a former lover? She teases us with the exact nature of that relationship. Frankly she goes on with this inner monologue too much and I keep losing interest in both her current and former relationships.

Sometimes it's best to walk away from a relationship and that's just what I'm doing. I'm not investing any more time in this. ( )

This book was on the Giller Prize shortlist in 2020. Having recently read the author's first book, Cereus Blooms at Night, and really liked it I was looking forward to reading this. What with another closure of the libraries and the popularity of the book I only recently received it from my library. There were some beautiful pieces of writing but, on the whole, I had problems with the book.

The synopsis of the book can be pretty short. A lesbian couple are living on an island in Lake Ontario, having moved there from Toronto about 5 years before. Priya is brown-skinned and from Trinidad originally. Alex is white. An old male friend of Priya's has been in touch and Priya has invited him to visit, staying overnight. Prakash is also Asian but he came to Canada as a refugee from Uganda when Idi Amin kicked out all the Asians. The majority of the book is a prelude to the visit with reminiscences by Priya about meeting Prakash in university and meeting Alex and various past events. Alex is unhappy that Priya asked Prakash to visit without consulting her and they have been arguing. It appears that there might be other issues in their relationship and this visit just highlighted the problems. When Prakash finally arrives I felt like there was some movement in the story; until then it seemed to stagnate. The relationship between Priya and Prakash is significant. Why then did Priya cut herself off from him for six years? Prakash wants to know and so does the reader. Yet I'm not sure if we ever fully resolve that question.

One of the oddities of the book is that, interspersed with Priya's narration, there is a chapter by Alex. I found this jarring. Then when we get to the end we find that not only is Priya an unreliable narrator but so is Alex. I'm sure Mootoo intended something by inserting Alex's chapter but I am not enough of a literature critic to understand it. I'm sure I'll think about this book for a while. Usually that's a sign of a good book; this time I'm not so sure. ( )

First person narrative, lots of angst-ridden inner dialogue, more like an overly drawn-out short story. Nothing surprising here for me, but might appeal to a younger reader of a background similar to the main character. Didn't feel a connection to or resonance with the characters or storyline, and didn't care for Prakash at all. Fairly graphic hetero sex throughout.

**I received my ARC from the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for an honest review. ( )