Reviews with content warning for Transphobia - Pew

Pew is, at it's core, a fable that questions morality and identity while simultaneously exposing the harmful nature of projection. In just over 200 pages, Catherine Lacey has managed to reveal all of the particular menaces of an isolated community.

The congregants at the center of this novel are righteous and certain of their own goodness. Throughout Pew, their one-sided conversations with the stranger uncover the truth; that good intentions do not beget good actions. In a slow and foreboding fashion reminiscent of the horror genre, Lacey portrays the manipulative side of charity. When generosity was never asked for, who does it really serve and who does it harm?

Furthermore, Catherine Lacey has created a narrator who is unknown and ambiguous to both the book's characters and to readers. In doing so, Lacey has deftly revealed modern society's reliance on forcing individuals to conform to specific ways of being. Readers discover that this form of projection and pressure only creates opportunity for harm and animosity.

Pew is truly a masterwork of a novel that I will never forget. This particular copy was a library loan but I look forward to owning my very own copy. I think Pew would fit perfectly and seamlessly alongside books by Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor, and Shirley Jackson on my bookshelf.

Content Warnings

rosalind's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I was convinced this would be a 5 star read, but the ending was very much not what I expected or wanted. Still, overall a really thought-provoking fable.

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annarose_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

i love books where the writing and the setting is claustrophobic and you feel trapped just from reading it. ones where the ending or some part of it is open to interpretation. books that are about sinister small towns and books examining how society treat people who are different. Pew manages to be all of these at once and more, and it made me feel simultaneously nauseous, angry, sad and hopeful. with some beautiful lines and thought-provoking throughout, i can't say this book was exactly a *joy* to read, but i did really love it and could talk about it for hours

content/trigger warnings for transphobia, racism and xenophobia, mentions of lynching and sexual assault and (idk how to word this but) wanting to force a person to get undressed so they can 'understand what sort of person they are' (basically a sickening mix of assault and transphobia)

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solenekeleroux's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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astronut's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.5

Pew was a short but special read that cleverly threw doubt at the practise of Christian kindness. It also looked at constructs like race, gender, nationality and sexuality and how they can be used to divide, as an excuse to treat some people as less worthy than others.

When a family arrives at church one Sunday they find a stranger asleep in their pew. The person seems unwilling or unable to speak and their race, age and gender are all unclear. The family “kindly” takes the stranger in and give them the moniker Pew. Despite assurances that Pew is welcome it becomes clear they aren’t. The family and the church community at large are simply unable to cope with not knowing whether Pew is male or female, how old they are, what race they are or where they come from. They claim they need to know for reasons of safety but the links between that information and safety is never really made clear. Additionally the church folk believe that accepting their charity obliged Pew to conform to their wishes. Racial divides in the town are evident and after being locked in a room (to keep others safe) and refusing to cooperate with a medical exam, Pew is sent to stay with a Black family on the other side of town where it is claimed Pew will be more comfortable.

The story ends with a very creepy Forgiveness Festival, which seems to be a way for residents to feel forgiven for all their wrongdoings without actually having to apologise or do anything in the way of redress.
I really liked the writing style all. The fragmentary sentences effectively conveyed snippets of overheard conversation.

Pew could have been an immigrant, a refugee, transgender, male, female, Black, White, Asian, Latinx...In the construct of this story it didn’t really matter. Pew was a person, a person in need of help and hospitality. And yet this white church community could not be genuinely welcoming and hospitable because they could not be sure who Pew was. Pew’s humanity was not enough to warrant more than a facade of kindness.

Moral of this story is don’t be like the residents of this church community.

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