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Book Review
Dec. 17th, 2017 10:59 pmGeneration Loss
by Elizabeth Hand
I've admired Elizabeth Hand's writing very much ever since I fell in love with Waking the Moon, and this book did not disappoint at all. Generation Loss concerns Cassandra Neary, a washed-up photographer who made her name photographing the 1970s NYC punk scene. Now under-employed at a bookstore and dabbling in substance abuse, Cass gets an assignment from an old friend to go up to the remote islands of Maine to interview Aphrodite Kametsos, a once-famous and now reclusive photographer. Once she arrives, Cass slowly becomes aware of the island's past, that past's echoes in the present, and its darker mysteries.
Generation Loss is an incredibly compelling read. While none of the characters is fully likeable, they are all interesting such that you want to know more about them, even when you are pretty sure you won't entirely like what you see. The slow unfolding of the island's mysteries is also very well done. The gradual and elusive reveal of the community's past and it's echoes was fascinating and poignant, while the slow build of the present-day mystery was glorious in its subtle horror and fleeting glimpses of what was going on. It's wonderfully hard to put down.
by Elizabeth Hand
I've admired Elizabeth Hand's writing very much ever since I fell in love with Waking the Moon, and this book did not disappoint at all. Generation Loss concerns Cassandra Neary, a washed-up photographer who made her name photographing the 1970s NYC punk scene. Now under-employed at a bookstore and dabbling in substance abuse, Cass gets an assignment from an old friend to go up to the remote islands of Maine to interview Aphrodite Kametsos, a once-famous and now reclusive photographer. Once she arrives, Cass slowly becomes aware of the island's past, that past's echoes in the present, and its darker mysteries.
Generation Loss is an incredibly compelling read. While none of the characters is fully likeable, they are all interesting such that you want to know more about them, even when you are pretty sure you won't entirely like what you see. The slow unfolding of the island's mysteries is also very well done. The gradual and elusive reveal of the community's past and it's echoes was fascinating and poignant, while the slow build of the present-day mystery was glorious in its subtle horror and fleeting glimpses of what was going on. It's wonderfully hard to put down.
