June 1, 2018
A young woman traveling abroad gets far more than she bargained for.Imbued with sex and politics, Locascio's debut novel casts the traditional bildungsroman into a darker, more feminine light. In the wake of her parents' divorce, 18-year-old Roxana can't wait for her pre-college study-abroad trip to Paris. Shortly before her departure, the travel agency informs her that while she can no longer go to Paris, she has been offered a spot in their Copenhagen program. With an eye on adventure and a need to escape, Roxana accepts the offer. Shortly after arriving, she falls into a passionate relationship with Søren, her older, mysterious tour guide. When Søren invites her to spend the summer in rural Denmark, she says yes. In the empty, white apartment, Roxana begins to explore the pleasures of her body with and without Søren. While Søren becomes more unpleasant and less recognizable, Roxana's desires--for companionship, touch, and adulthood--threaten to consume them both. As Søren pulls away, Roxana is drawn to a Bosnian refugee named Zlatan, whom locals call Geden, meaning "the Goat." From their politics to their treatment of Roxana, the two men could not be more different. As she's pushed to the shadowy periphery of Søren's life, the novel--like Roxana--begins to turn inward. There are fewer flashbacks and longer, claustrophobic stretches detailing Roxana's body, her longings, and the space she inhabits. The novel's sometimes-deliberate sparseness gives way to sensual and frank descriptions of genitalia, bodily functions, and domesticity: "The way formless hours could fall wide as splayed knees" and "the space between my legs became the center of everything, opened like a peeled grapefruit." Above all else, Locascio centers the female body exquisitely.A debut exploring how we open up to others--and, more importantly, ourselves.
COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
June 25, 2018
A young American’s exploration of what it means to be desired and her near-constant quest for sex are the focus of Locascio’s raunchy yet flat debut. Eighteen-year-old Roxana is scheduled to embark on a summer study abroad program to Paris with her best friend. When Roxana gets bumped to Copenhagen instead, she lies to her parents about her travel plans and decides to make the best of her experience on her own in Denmark—especially after she meets her attractive 28-year-old guide, Søren. But then, Søren suggests she ditch the program and follow him to Farsø, a small town in the north of Denmark, for the summer while he works on his graduate thesis. The romance starts out delightfully domestic but becomes progressively claustrophobic as Roxana beings spending her days indoors without a key, cleaning, masturbating, and waiting for Søren to return so they can have sex. In turn, increasingly whiny Søren has trouble writing his thesis and resents Roxana for her lusty behavior. The novel’s focus on Roxana’s obsession with discovering the power of her body (“The space between my legs became the center of everything”) comes off as navel-gazing rather than titillating or erotic. Readers will find themselves wishing for more from Roxana and her awakening. Agent: Marya Spence, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc.
July 1, 2018
When a study-abroad company inadvertently bumps Roxana from the high-school graduation trip to Paris she planned with her best, and only, friend, she accepts the offer to attend its Copenhagen program for free instead. An introverted only child staggered by her parents' impending divorce, she keeps the last-minute switch from even them. S�ren, 10 years her senior, is her Copenhagen guide and, nearly immediately, astonishingly, her lover. Drunk on hope and many beers, she easily agrees to spend the duration of her trip in a small northern town where they can live in his uncle's apartment while S�ren works on his thesis. Locascio practically invents a new language, conjuring pure feelings and colors, for their sex, which casts a strong spell over Roxana until, almost as quickly, S�ren closes himself to her. Simultaneously naive and aware, Roxana holds on until S�ren's darkness becomes impossible to ignore, and her curiosity about a Bosnian refugee whom S�ren derides overtakes all else. This provocative, intimate, and metamorphosing character study vividly captures a young woman's life-earned education.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)
June 1, 2018
A young woman traveling abroad gets far more than she bargained for.Imbued with sex and politics, Locascio's debut novel casts the traditional bildungsroman into a darker, more feminine light. In the wake of her parents' divorce, 18-year-old Roxana can't wait for her pre-college study-abroad trip to Paris. Shortly before her departure, the travel agency informs her that while she can no longer go to Paris, she has been offered a spot in their Copenhagen program. With an eye on adventure and a need to escape, Roxana accepts the offer. Shortly after arriving, she falls into a passionate relationship with S�ren, her older, mysterious tour guide. When S�ren invites her to spend the summer in rural Denmark, she says yes. In the empty, white apartment, Roxana begins to explore the pleasures of her body with and without S�ren. While S�ren becomes more unpleasant and less recognizable, Roxana's desires--for companionship, touch, and adulthood--threaten to consume them both. As S�ren pulls away, Roxana is drawn to a Bosnian refugee named Zlatan, whom locals call Geden, meaning "the Goat." From their politics to their treatment of Roxana, the two men could not be more different. As she's pushed to the shadowy periphery of S�ren's life, the novel--like Roxana--begins to turn inward. There are fewer flashbacks and longer, claustrophobic stretches detailing Roxana's body, her longings, and the space she inhabits. The novel's sometimes-deliberate sparseness gives way to sensual and frank descriptions of genitalia, bodily functions, and domesticity: "The way formless hours could fall wide as splayed knees" and "the space between my legs became the center of everything, opened like a peeled grapefruit." Above all else, Locascio centers the female body exquisitely.A debut exploring how we open up to others--and, more importantly, ourselves.
COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.