Exposure
A Novel
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
“I will be thinking about this book for a long time.”
—Sally Hepworth, author of Darling Girls
The shocking, unforgettable novel that Junot Díaz called “searingly brilliant,” now with an exclusive bonus chapter, enhanced discussion guide, and a conversation with the author, Ava Dellaira.
GRIEF IS LIKE THIS . . .
Falling in love with your best friend, only to lose her to a mysterious death.
Working for decades to achieve a dream, and just when it’s within reach, watching it threaten to go up in flames.
Rushing home to the city you fled years ago to witness your father’s last breaths.
Spending the first sleepless months in the throes of new motherhood alone, as your husband struggles to save his career.
Befriending the woman who should be your enemy, because you are that lonely . . .
Annie, Jesse, Noah, and Juliette are tied together by their experiences of grief; they are separated by their own versions of the truth of what happened on a single night twelve years ago, when Juliette, a college freshman grieving her mother, and Noah, a high school senior fighting for a place in a world that told him he didn’t matter, found each other. Spanning decades, this complex, captivating story pulls back the curtains of cancel culture to explore ambition, empathy, art, desire, consent, motherhood, and what it really means to lose everything.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dellaira (In Search of Us) explores gender and racial power dynamics in her gripping debut. The narrative begins in 2004, when Black Chicago high schooler Noah King gets drunk with his creative writing instructor, a white college student named Juliette Marker, and goes home with her. Dellaira cuts the scene there, and a flash-forward reveals that, unbeknownst to Noah, Juliette will die two days later. The circumstances of Juliette's death remain a mystery until the third act, when they're uncovered in 2016 by Juliette's best friend and lover Annie, who's still racked with guilt over avoiding Juliette's calls the day she died. A third plot thread tracks Noah's departure from Chicago to Hollywood, where he starts a family with his novelist wife, Jesse. Now, he's poised to break out as a screenwriter and director with the release of his much-anticipated debut film, which is based on his struggles after losing his mother at seven. Dellaira's explorations of grief are complicated and wrenching, and she digs into multiple viewpoints to explore the complex issues that emerge once Juliette's version of events with Noah comes to light. Readers of Celeste Ng should take note.
