Set over a single weekend, we find Wallace, a postgraduate science student, navigating the claustrophobic world of his Midwestern campus. Feeling constantly on the periphery, Wallace tries to come to terms with his father’s death while embarking on a painfully ambivalent relationship with a fellow student. It becomes clear that he is also navigating the twin exclusions of prejudice – through racism and homophobia, both explicit and implicit – and also the long shadow cast by childhood trauma. Beautifully crafted and at times excruciating to read, this is a campus novel like you’ve never read before.
