This one really won’t be for everyone. ‘Maps of our Spectacular Bodies’ is Maddie Mortimer’s highly celebrated debut novel, even bagging the coveted Booker Prize. It’s a journey through Lia’s life, it’s a coming-of-age story, it’s an exploration of illness and death – and it features the malevolent voice of her disease.
It’s hard to do a book like this justice in words. It’s a beautiful, heart-breaking, moving and symphonic novel. Mortimer plays with form and words in truly magical, disruptive and lyrical ways. And you can’t help but get swept away by the pure majesty in the words.
But it isn’t for everyone. Lia has cancer. Lia’s cancer narrates part of our story; a dark, gleeful voice that grows to know everything about Lia and revels in picking it apart. This book could be extremely triggering for some, but it can also be healing.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a sad book. I cried on the train, I sobbed at the ending – but I finished this book changed. It’s not often that when you turn the final page, you feel that something within yourself is different. This book is an epic journey that you take with the characters, allowed into their private circle, and it is truly one worth taking.
I cannot recommend this book enough. If you feel up to the challenge, I promise you this book will sweep you away.This book is on Kindle and available from Amazon or Waterstones. You can also pop into our local indie Pigeon Books on Albert Road and request for them to order it in for you.
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