Vista Chinesa: ‘Sits somewhere between the experimental novels of Eimear McBride and Leila Slimani’s more shocking output’ – The Sunday Times

Levy manages to give this novel a raw aura of authenticity even while it's artful enough to be a fictional and shaped narrative that is based on the true experience of a women she knows. It's worth saying upfront that the close-up details of the brutal rape at the heart of the story come nearer to the surface as the book progresses and they are horrific to read - it's a psychic violation as well as an exceptionally sadistic episode of physical and sexual assault.Alongside the detailed recounting of trauma and some kind of recovery, the books also traces the problematic police investigation and the additional pressures placed on the victim to conform to a process that doesn't have her at its heart.To offset the grim nature of much of this material is a story of motherhood (though some of the pregnancy and labour scenes also question who medical protocols are actually for) and a compensating portrait of a boyfriend-later husband who doesn't pressurise Julia and who supports her reclamation of her own body following the rape.Levy is right to keep this short as it's intense and painful reading with some shocking scenes of vicious cruelty - but a thoughtfully-shaped narrative about a crucial topic that is finally getting a purchase on public discourse.