A review by lesserjoke
Self-Portrait with Boy by Rachel Lyon

4.0

This debut novel from author Rachel Lyon paints a sickeningly captivating picture of a starving artist who accidentally captures her neighbor's nine-year-old son falling to his death in the background of a photography session. The resulting image of the dying boy is the best art she's ever made, and she knows it could launch her career — but also that the photograph would likely break his mother's heart to see it. I don't care much for the scenes when the boy's ghost appears to actually haunt the narrator, but her internal struggle over the ruthless cost of success, alongside Lyon's honest portrayal of hand-to-mouth poverty, is quietly riveting.