Scan barcode
A review by jessdekkerreads
Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer
5.0
โ...๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด.โ
Recent winner of the Desmond Elliot Prize for Debut Novels and longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize- this is a narrative revealed to the reader not only by the protagonist, Lia, but also by the cancer that slowly takes over Liaโs body. The cancer, the disease, is given its own voice, a cruel and menacing voice. Mortimer brings with her a personal experience of losing her own mother to cancer, into the words that fill up each page, and you can feel it, in the intimate moments Lia shares with her daughter, how the power of language and words connect them. Told also in Liaโs reflections on her own complex relationship with her Evangelical mother, and further reflecting on a toxic relationship she had with a man named Matthew, and how said relationship has shaped her. And despite the impending death the cancer assures is to come, the novel is so full of life.
Itโs not just another novel about cancer, or motherhood, yes, the themes weโve seen before are there, but Iโve never seen them explored in such a way, that left me at times breathless, questioning mortality, and reflecting on my relationship with my own daughter, โ๐๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆโ๐ด ๐ด๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ. ๐๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐บ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ.โ I cried, oh I cried, and held my daughter close.
โ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ.โ
โ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ.โ
This is a book, I believe, is one that needs to be read in physical form, not ebook, and not audiobook either, to get the full effect of this fragmentary and experimental text, as the most beautiful, poetic prose flows, weaves throughout. Full of unflinching honesty and raw emotion, I was immersed in these complex human experiences and relationships, i felt the depth of the love and the grief. I felt it all.
Thereโs a special place on my shelf for this heavily annotated book. My favorite fiction read of 2022 thus far. Thank you Scribner for the advanced copy - Iโm a little late in posting this review, but the good news is, this book is out now.
Recent winner of the Desmond Elliot Prize for Debut Novels and longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize- this is a narrative revealed to the reader not only by the protagonist, Lia, but also by the cancer that slowly takes over Liaโs body. The cancer, the disease, is given its own voice, a cruel and menacing voice. Mortimer brings with her a personal experience of losing her own mother to cancer, into the words that fill up each page, and you can feel it, in the intimate moments Lia shares with her daughter, how the power of language and words connect them. Told also in Liaโs reflections on her own complex relationship with her Evangelical mother, and further reflecting on a toxic relationship she had with a man named Matthew, and how said relationship has shaped her. And despite the impending death the cancer assures is to come, the novel is so full of life.
Itโs not just another novel about cancer, or motherhood, yes, the themes weโve seen before are there, but Iโve never seen them explored in such a way, that left me at times breathless, questioning mortality, and reflecting on my relationship with my own daughter, โ๐๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆโ๐ด ๐ด๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ. ๐๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐บ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ.โ I cried, oh I cried, and held my daughter close.
โ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ.โ
โ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ.โ
This is a book, I believe, is one that needs to be read in physical form, not ebook, and not audiobook either, to get the full effect of this fragmentary and experimental text, as the most beautiful, poetic prose flows, weaves throughout. Full of unflinching honesty and raw emotion, I was immersed in these complex human experiences and relationships, i felt the depth of the love and the grief. I felt it all.
Thereโs a special place on my shelf for this heavily annotated book. My favorite fiction read of 2022 thus far. Thank you Scribner for the advanced copy - Iโm a little late in posting this review, but the good news is, this book is out now.