THE SKIN AND ITS GIRL by Sarah Cypher
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“But when I sat at one end of my mother’s bedroom desk and tried to find each letter of every word of each wish in my brain, each one a single-minded shape of want, the alphabet turned as shallow as the dimples of my watercolor set. Here are eight colors—reproduce life.”
TITLE—The Skin and Its Girl
[When you purchase the book from this link you support vital humanitarian aid efforts in Gaza. All profits go to Anera, a Charity Navigator four-star aid organization providing daily medical care, hot meals, supplies, and psychosocial support to children.]
AUTHOR—Sarah Cypher
PUBLISHED—2023
PUBLISHER—Ballantine Books
GENRE—literary fiction
SETTING—Palestine & in diaspora, early 21st c. + flashbacks
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—stories & storytellers, outcasts of the outcast, queer & mental illness rep, Arab mythology, internalized shame (anti-Arab, anti-queer, etc.), Palestinian history & culture—especially in diaspora, namelessness & homelessness, family history & relationships, Israeli apartheid state & injustice, hope & friendship, small but strong community, forgiveness & redemption, uncommonly stunning & poetic writing
“It becomes habit, smiling, when ants are pouring from the collapsing hill of your heart.”
Premise:
“…a provocative exploration of how we let stories divide, unite, and define us…” — the back cover
"Whimsical and powerful ...Cypher's prose has a softness to it and a melodic cadence... The story feels like it's being untangled as it's told, and this—along with subtle glimpses of almost-magic—provides the sense of mystery that permeates the book. The Skin and Its Girl is an intriguing debut, a story within a story within a story, and a lyrical and haunting journey through generations and across oceans." — BookPage
My thoughts:
Yes.
(My mind was literally blown by this book so once I manage to collect my brains & get the blood circulating through my head again I may have something more to say but for now just, yes. Go read it. Now.)
“It is no wonder that the word for story in English is the same one as the word for the floor of a building; we layer thoughts on thoughts until we are a tower of ideas, even if it means the whole unstable structure is shot through with the lies we tell ourselves and others.”
I would recommend this book to readers who love intergenerational queer literary fiction with fairy tale motifs, themes of storytelling, family secrets, & identity, & truly, uncommonly stunning writing. This book is best read over & over & over again…
Final note: This book is joining LOTE & SOLAR STORMS as yet another “endless book” that I’ve discovered this year… This is what happens apparently when one of my reading goals for the year is to read as many anticipated 5-star reads as possible from my backlist. 😅
“Do you know what it’s like to be bewitched? Your mind bends. Your entire life shrinks to the size of a small room. The imagination is a fever. You can’t stand it. Nobody can stand it—that’s the point of falling in love.”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
CW // suicide attempt/ideation, Israeli apartheid injustice, IOF violence, fire
Season: late-winter, late-summer, or fall
Music pairing: “I’m Blue” by Faouzia, “Past Life” by Maggie Rogers, “The Hurdy-Gurdy Girl” by Chris Palmer
“‘Betty,’ you say, ‘there is no truth but in old women’s tales. So let me tell you why happiness is impossible.’”
Further Reading—
NAMESAKE by NS Nuseibeh
YOU EXIST TOO MUCH by Zaina Arafat
SALT HOUSES by Hala Alyan
THE ANNOTATED ARABIAN NIGHTS translated by Yasmine Seale
THE OPPOSITE HOUSE by Helen Oyeyemi
GINGERBREAD by Helen Oyeyemi
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