Luster By Raven Leilani

 

Luster

By Raven Leilani

Edie is having an affair with a married man named Eric who is in an open relationship. When she loses her job and her apartment she lets herself into her boyfriend's house where his wife finds her and offers her a place to stay while she gets back on her feet. 

While living there Edie compares herself to Eric's wife and becomes close to his daughter, an adopted black girl who seems to be without friends and afraid that Edie will break up her family. Edie mentors the girl, Akila, by connecting her to her blackness, something Eric and his wife are ill-prepared to do.

All the while Edie is trying to create some semblance of sense to her life. During this period of her life, she grapples with her anger, her desires, and her apathy for her own existence.

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this book. It was sexually-charged, but more violent in that regard than I would have liked. Edie's sexual acts with Eric often involved violence or belittlement. A window into her apathy for sure, but not really empowering for women, in my opinion. I did like the writing, though it was at times difficult to comprehend due to its slangy, urbanesque prose. It is text I needed to work at. I didn't like any of the characters, and that's not a terrible thing, but I wasn't exactly rooting for Edie. I could identify with her feelings about life, work, and the comfort of the rich who never seem happy with what they have.

All in all, it was a good book, but I wouldn't read it again. It's not the kind of story that really interests me. I'm giving Luster 3.5 stars.