There is something about marking down, 'no the cast is not particularly diverse and there was little character development,' that makes it feel like I should not be able to rate the book so highly, and yet here we are. This book is a snapshot of people at a particular moment and was simply not about developing them but rather about showing them at an interesting time in their lives. There are reflective flashbacks that provide some context, but never more than the bare minimum you need to understand them. There is much that is left up to interpretation, which fueled a joyfully-shouted discussion with my book club about why, exactly, Elisabeth focuses her work where she does, and how to think about her mother (both as a mother and as a woman). 

Ali Smith's writing style is incredible, lyrical and bold and restrained all at once. I was immediately consumed with a desire to read more of her work (this is my first Ali Smith) and just bask in her command of language.  The themes of transition and death were handled so poetically and with such deftness, I was truly impressed. The previously-mentioned book club already agreed to read Winter next and perhaps the entire quartet as the seasons turn. I haven't seen our group this excited about a book since we read Piranesi (Susannah Clarke).

Why is not 5 stars? Because I rarely enjoy visual art being described in words, and found those passages which described Pauline Boty's work very frustrating. The scenes in which Daniel is describing them aloud are different, as it's more about Daniel than about trying to visualize the art piece, but there were a few places where her work was described in the narrative rather than by Daniel and that was the bit I disliked.

Meet my new favourite book. I love this writing style, which, privately, I call poetic prose. I want to read it again immediately but first I want to take some time to reflect and research about the real figures in this book. I feel like there are thin spiderweb strings going from this book in every direction, shining in the sun, making me want to learn so many new and beautiful things. This book is surreal both in it's show of reality and actually surreal text. It disregards space and time, interweaving stories and presenting labeled things in a new way. It makes you see the beautiful in the ugly. It gives hope. I love it. Can't wait to read more of Ali Smith.

Ali Smith is great at exploring grief and how the greater questions of life intersect with the mundane. Her writing always takes me exactly to the emotional place of her characters--often that means I feel quite depressed reading her books, but there is value in the personal and wider reflections she offers through her art. Her style flows so perfectly that, before you know it, the book is over and you're left hungry for more.