Teru reviewed Easy Life by Emma Ramadan
Compelling exploration of the self and desires
4 stars
This is a book that's difficult to describe in terms of plot as events almost seem incidental. A young woman feels stuck in place, resentful in part but also contented. She processes her desires, grief, love and hatred in an uncertain manner and challenges her own conception of self. The use of language in each section of the book is different but clever and always driving, pushing things relentlessly forward towards conclusions. Indeed, it is at times highly variable in style but still powerful: it oscillates between intimate, dissociatively alien and conciliatory. Ultimately human.
It is, in a sense, a polished coming-of-age sort of story but one that is more about introspection, masterly expounded, than externally imposed.