"I was an anxious kid with angry gums."

Is it strange that I can relate to Esther, skilled grinder and clencher of teeth? I understand waking to crunching- stress does that for me. All I can say is, I keep my dentist busy too! Esther’s chops know full well about her worries, it’s where she channels them but it is also how she makes her living as a skilled pencil biter. Her mandible control makes her, she tells us, “the best MouthFeel Tester™ and VIP Pencil Preserver™ Juliet Pencils has ever employed.” Owned by Juliet (all girls in the Rosenblum family are thus named) it will one day be inherited by Frankie (whom Juliet broke with tradition in naming differently). Always passed down through the mother, the factory has been in their family for generations, but the success of the company is more often an embarrassment to the teen. Juliet has raised Frankie to believe in the power of women, and isn’t concerned about being the sort of mother who whips up comforting meals nor teaching her how to be a good wife for a future husband- she’s too busy working hard and setting up “Mom’s Girls! Do Work!” rallies. She has taught her daughter to always be heard in the world in the way she herself blazes through life. Easy to do, until Frankie is in an accident at the factory and wakes up to find herself muted, struggling to make sense of what just happened to her. Worse, her mother Juliet is ever present, worrying over her in a way she never had to before.

Ruth owns and runs the local photography lab and lives each day buried by a grief so deep that is has taken root, leaving her numb. The darkroom is a welcome pause for dragging days and pointless, exhausting interactions. Business may carry a person, but a life it doesn’t make for a brokenhearted widow. It is through others photographs (a stolen moment in time) that she is able to anchor herself. It is a way for her to reclaim time, the very thing “time” that snatched the husband she loved so very much away from her. Ruth’s outpourings are just as much a throbbing ache as the muscles in Esther’s jaw. A loss that clenches and grinds the heart to a pulp. Anna Cox has done a beautiful job writing about love and how easily it can “dematerialize without warning.” She shows us how even something as common as a shirt can lend gravity to a person barely hanging on.

As Ruth develops film, Frankie is developing into a young woman and it’s a nightmare to find herself in a hospital, unable to speak with only a notebook to communicate. Sixteen years old and stuck being treated like she’s a six again! Then there is Noah, whom she met when she joined the all boys troop “Patriot Adventures”, of course there is a story there! Naturally, she endured unwelcome recognition from the other troop members that she didn’t want until Noah came along, which had me laughing. Frankie’s voice brings sunshine to a novel that can gut you with it’s pain. There are times I felt like I was a pencil Esther was chewing on, just like life feeds on Esther, Ruth, Frankie and her mother Juliet. Of course Juliet feels guilty, but guilt isn’t productive- Frankie knows that isn’t the emotion she needs from her strong mother. Frankie has to figure her life out too, reborn to this new way of being in the world, unsure how to make this work- voiceless? Not looking exactly as she did before the accident. There isn’t a rally in the world that can fix this.

What can Esther do now for her hungry teeth? She is jobless, for how long? Her teeth have their demands, she is their hostage! To please them, she chews on all sorts of household things like wooden hangers and a plunger. Her teeth need to work whether they are required to or not! There is such pleasure in the bite, it is her very livelihood! Now her purpose has been taken away, what will she do if the plant doesn’t return to normal? She escapes for a time, at least, in her and Frankie’s guilty pleasure the soap opera Woeful Valley. Yet, her teeth are always waiting… aching… is she going to go crazy before this is all over?

What about Ruth? Is she ever going to climb out of the rubble of her own life? She spends her days seeing as a photographer, missing nothing. Then an idea forms, of taking on other people’s burdens and soon becomes a bigger job than she imagined. It’s madness, it just might be a salve too.

This novel is perfectly strange, intelligently written, painful and engaging to the very end. It is told through the voices of Ruth, Esther and Frankie’s active, humorous young mind. Who knew a story about a pencil factory could be so wonderful! Anna Cox is an author to watch. This is one heck of a debut novel! Love the cover too! Definitely add this book to your summer reading list!

Publication Date: June 23, 2020

Little A

Three women dealing with the aftermath of an accident at the pencil factory that employs most of the town: Ruth who owns the photo lab collects unwanted photos and talks to her dead husband; Frankie, the teenage daughter of the factory's owner, injured in the accident, figures out how to move on; and Esther bites pencils. Her teeth will not be satisfied without something to bite, and with pencils no longer an option, she bites her way through everything she can get her teeth on. This was definitely an odd one, but enjoyable. Frankie was my favorite, especially her relationship with Noah. Esther was obviously kind of nutty, gnawing on everything, but Ruth was even weirder to me. If you like unexpected and strange books, you might enjoy it. 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

This is a hard one to rate. Overall, some intriguing characters and interesting plot line. Humor. But the ending felt a bit rushed and twee.

A wonderful debut a book of a town called Lead where a pencil factory is the towns source of income.A quirky read a book told through the eyes of three young women their interactions thoughts relationships.Really enjoyed this unique novel by a talented author.#netgalley#littleA

Interesting concept and utterly unique plot. This one will do well in any collection and it’s female-centric story is timely as well.

Clever and quirky with snappy dialogue. Cox' s debut succeeds in carrying off a unique setting of a town called Lead where the pencil factory I'd the main source of employment. Told through the eyes of three female characters, memories, grief, resilience and new beginnings are examined. Thought provoking and fresh.

Copy provided by the Publisher and NetGalley

* I received an ARC through Netgalley in return for an honest review *


It's been a long time since I have read a book that approaches character and plot with a perfect balance of whimsical intention. Had this not been an ARC I'm not sure I would have chosen to read it based on the unknown and I'm certain if I did that it is likely I would not have made it past the first two chapters because somewhere along the way in my reading I think I must have lost my sense of humor. This story tapped into my senses that had been dulled by too many contemporary fiction and WWII novels.. Once I "got it" I absolutely loved this book and couldn't wait to read more. The story line was so insanely unique and the author managed to pull off creating characters that were simultaneously a little over the top yet real. A story that was a little on the WTF side but not. Without the grounding of both the story and the characters the author would have lost me. But instead the author brought perfect balance that drew me right in. Bottom line, if you enjoy a book that has lines and imagery that are LOL funny, quirky characters, and a well crafted story with a nice punch then you may want to give this a try.

LOVED IT!!!

Anna Cox teaches photography at universities in Canada and in the United States. This is her first novel.

“I Keep My Worries In My Teeth” builds with humor...scintillating...lustrous humor....
with a sarcastic slang tickling the dialogue.
There were numerous sentences that unexpectedly stripped me down and left me feeling melancholy, and in ‘awe’....
Awe in an eye-opening way of looking at life through new lenses: literally and figuratively.

The story begins in Ohio, 1979.... in a small town...moored by a flourishing pencil factory.

Ruth Stanhope, Esther Spark, Frankie Rosenblum ....
alternate the chapters forward.

The very beginning captured my attention.
“In another time, I would have been an alchemist, but in 1979 people buy their gold at the mall, so I perform a different kind of magic. I transform negatives into positives”
Ruth Stanhope begins our story. She owns Vixen Photography, ( three shops/ three locations), and her business is looking at her customers business.
“In a photograph, distance disappears and past fuses to present; it’s time travel, on the cheap. No ticket, no passport. Stop a rocket with your pinky, hold a flame and never blister. portable enchantment, rolled up and lighttight”.
I learned a lot of fascinating tidbits about the world of photography from Ruth....both from the mechanics of photography... and the deeper emotional offerings that photos are to us.
The intimacy I - especially- felt with Ruth - allowed me to visit some of my own memories. Her husband, Max died much too young.
My father, Max, also died much too young.
Ruth spent her days in the photography lab processing other peoples happy memories, when her own memories were filled with grief, sorrow, and loss.

The following excerpt had me sit and ponder for awhile - before reading more:
“Pretending to forget isn’t the same thing as actually forgetting. I pretend to forget that Tuesdays exist, but something always comes between Monday and Wednesday”
“My husband, Max, died on a Tuesday. That morning he’d brought me coffee in bed, one thing led to another, and I was late for work, again. Just another Tuesday and what I assumed would be a long change of Tuesdays”.

Esther Spark, is a character unlike anyone I know ... but gosh I loved her quirks and her heart.
She kept her worries in her teeth....literally!
“The one worry that unites both bicuspids and incisors is the fear of getting knocked out”.
Esther was worried that she couldn’t live without her teeth—she would lose her job—a disaster because her mouth was the only place in the world that made sense to her....
[note: not to worry... this will make more sense as you keep reading]....

Instead of seeing dead people... ha... Esther chewed pencils.

Esther had been an anxious kid with angry gums.
“Birch bark, tire tread, clay pots, and silky cat paws— if I wanted to calm myself, I opened my mouth and shoved it in”.
Instead of cuddling teddy bears as a kid, Esther learned to cuddle rolling pins and vacuum cleaner hoses.
When her permanent teeth arrived she got fat, fast. Tests ruled out glandular problems, and dentists question the excessive wear on her molars, but no one knew what to do, so her mother enrolled her in ballet classes. She lost weight because the other girls taught her how to eat without eating.

Esther was now in her late 30s, but the dentist told her she had gums of an 80-year-old.
She worked at Julia’s pencils... for nearly 15 years.....the most successful pencil factory on the East Coast.
Esther was in charge of the
“Wall of Bite Fame”, that showcased pencils in individual glass cases. Every year the pencil factory got many tourists that came to see the displayed pencils... ( think Marilyn Monroe, and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy chewing on pencil photos, etc).

Esther tells us that of all things that women put in their mouths, ‘pencils’ were the number two most popular.
Ha... I was quickly reminded the story took place in 1979, not 2020.
Pencils, anyone? Can’t find one in my own house!

Frankie Rosenblum, was Juliet’s daughter. She’d been coming around the pencil factory since she was a kid who got dropped off after school. She was still coming around as a high school student.
Frankie attended St. Lucy’s All Girls Preparatory Academy.
She had a big school rally coming up - but fortunately or unfortunately it was scheduled on the same day as her mother’s vocation day at the pencil factory ( with TV crew): “Girls! Do Work”.
Frankie’s mother, Juliet, says:
“Promoting lifelong dedication to a man, no matter how spectacular his abilities, isn’t appropriate career counseling”.
Oh course, Frankie rolls her eyes as in.... “oh please”!
Frankie is a punk-music-listening girl... with a sorta ( ok, really and truly), boyfriend named Noah.

The pencil factory had been in the Rosenblum family for many generations.....
As Juliet would say again:
.......”like Judaism: rich with tradition and inherited through the mother”.

An accident happens at the pencil factory ....
don’t think I’m dishing out the details....I can’t do other readers chewing and swallowing—you know?/!....
However....
“Teeth remember everything. Every popcorn kernel, mouth-torn strip of tape, gnawed cuticle, rubbery brisket, lover’s ear, and impromptu candy corn fangs. When I’m really anxious, I try to calm my teeth by thinking about my childhood, the yeasty tang of my father’s loafers, the solid comfort of wooden crib spindles and vacuum cleaner hoses”.
Chew on that!!! 😁

A funny, unique, elegiac novel.... also incredibly poignant!

Big super thanks to *Anna Cox*: I think she’s terrific; talented!
I’ll be first in line for her second book to read.

Not too long... very enjoyable... my thinking shifted......
The power of this novel sneaked up on me just like life does.... with heartbreak and love!!

Thank you also to *Little A* publishing - and Netgalley.

I think the best way I can describe "I keep my worries in my teeth" is dream-like. Not a heavenly dream or a nightmare, but one of those subtly surreal dreams in which everything seems normal while you're in it but as soon as you're awake you're aware of the little things that don't add up completely or the things that add up but are weird.
Things like tap dancing morse code, camera obscuras in photo stores and pencil biting quality tests.
This novel follows three generations of women in a small town that are affected by an accident in the big pencil factory: the teenage daughter of the owner who ends up without a physical voice but with much to say, the middle-aged widow who owns the photo stores and tries to fix Everything and the pencil mouth feel tester with the nervous biting habit suddenly unemployed.
"I keep my worries in my teeth" doesn't shy away from profound thoughts nor from embracing the surreal side of the story and the humour that can be found in it.