This book is so full of gorgeous language, it is hauntingly atmospheric and deeply romantic. I could not put it down and have not stopped thinking about, the love story broke my heart.

Lyrical, lovely and wholly original, this novel spins our Covid reality and (Covid fears) into a masterfully written novel that I found equally compelling and unsettling. Sarah Hall writes beautifully. The story resonated long after I finished the book.

It's harrowing, to read a book like BURNTCOAT when our world is still recovering from our own pandemic. Sarah Hall is one of those writers who manages to craft a story that is simultaneously about everything and nothing at the same time; if someone were to ask what BURNTCOAT is "about" plot-wise, I might be left scratching my head. A woman who survives a pandemic, only to fatally relapse many years later? A woman who is also a sculptor, a lover, and a daughter to an irreparably brain-damaged mother? But these are all surface-level things, when the heart of Hall's novel is much deeper and harder to pin down.

It's about trauma and human connection, the things that ruin us and make us stronger. It's about how lonely and interdependent the modern world has become; how fast everything can be built up and broken down. In true "literary" style, BURNTCOAT is a deeply pensive exploration of what it means to be alive, wrapped up in jaggedly sensual and beautifully evocative prose. Certain passages sang with poetry. Others were so visceral, I found them difficult to read.

Whatever your takeaway is from Hall's short, intense book, it is undeniably worth reading. I'm definitely going to check out her previous work, and I'll keep my eyes peeled for BURNTCOAT come award season.