Madeline is Sleeping by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum

it's full of beautiful and disturbing images. magical and improbable things happen that fascinate. its best quality is its capacity to surprise, to lead you on to see what could possibly happen next. the reader is left in doubt as to when we are in the world and when we are in a sleeping girl's dreams, as well as how the timeline works, and i do relish that sort of complexity. there's yummy food, and music, and handjobs, and a circus, and even a prince - all the elements are there for me to latch on to this book and love it.

( but... )

i want to get all my writer friends together with that woman's agent. whoever sold the ms is a great talent.