A review by ericfheiman
The Convalescent by Jessica Anthony

4.0

Certainly one of the more unique and bizarre novels I've read in a long while. Anthony's main accomplishment here is to fully inhabit the psyche of a mute Hungarian dwarf that sells meat from the back of his abandoned school bus home and longs for the affections of a local benevolent doctor who treats him. The flip tone of the parallel historical narrative sometimes grates, but considering the idiosyncratic nature of the story and point of view, I was surprised by how much the book stuck with me emotionally.