Body Friend

This Australian novelist makes her U.S. debut with a heady plunge into how we as a society define illness and recovery and the confusion and despair that can accompany our own and society's expectations for "success." The plot may seem thinly drawn--a young woman is in recovery from an an operation that addressed a chronic condition that caused her considerable pain. Her narrative becomes cyclical as she addresses the demands of her body and psyche, at times feeling energized and determined to prove her recovery is on track, and at other times sitting with the pain and isolation that her condition can bring. Her interior dialogue is externalized in the form of two other women she meets, both seeming to her to be "just like her" with similar physical appearances and both in recovery from the same (unnamed) medical condition. The two "body friends" never meet. They also never meet her live-in boyfriend, and only seem to exist in her struggle with how to define herself and navigate the poles between despair and confidence.

Body Friend will appeal to readers open to extended reflection on disability and physicality, with a narrator whose openness to exploring the depths of her feelings keeps the pages turning. There is no grand resolution here, but a final thought warns us not to put her thoughts and experiences into boxes, because "such formulations would have felt like an intolerable violence to me, a piercing and pinning down of story and logic, narrative and symbolism, when none of it resembled what it felt like."

Overall, a brilliant and brave piece of writing.

An engrossing study of chronic pain. While the source of the pain is somewhat shrouded, the young woman at the center of the story works hard at recovery. When she meets two women who struggle with their own chronic pain, she takes solace in their very different approaches to manage their pain. One encourages on-going exercise and forcing oneself to get up and go; the other relies on turning inward and seeking emotional serenity. Throughout, her partner provides an anchor in the physical world by providing support, love, and acceptance. This is. in stark contrast to her friends who each push her to follow their paths rather than a path of her own.