\”Fraught and deeply moving…the work of a genuinely exciting new talent.\” -Booker Prize winner, George Saunders.
If a picture paints a thousand worlds . . .
Abandoned as an infant on the local veterinarian’s front porch, Pepper Rafferty was raised by two loving mothers, and now, at thirty-six is married to the stable, supportive Ike. She’s never told anyone that at fifteen she discovered the identity of her biological mother.
That’s because her birth mother is Ula Frost, a reclusive painter famous for the outrageous claims that her portraits summon their subjects’ doppelgangers from parallel universes.
Researching the rumors, Pepper couldn’t help but wonder: Is there a parallel universe in which she is more confident, more accomplished, better able to accept love?
A universe in which Ula decided she was worth keeping?
A universe in which Ula’s rejection didn’t still hurt too much to share?
Combining a thrilling pan-continental race against time with an authentic and touching personal drama, Self-Portrait with Nothing is an unforgettable debut that explores what it means to be part of a family.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Imprint: Tor Books US
Publication date: 12/12/2023
Self-Portrait with Nothing
By Aimee Pokwatka
Review by Renata
In this original and genre-bending debut, Pokwatka avoids the cliches of the now Marvel-ously well-worn multiverse in favour of a richer, stranger, and more emotionally compelling search for origin and identity. Her writing is fresh, clever and controlled, and her central character's journey - which includes a mystery, an art heist, sinister doppelgangers and more - never ceases to surprise. Where lesser speculative novels try to disguise a lack of substance by foregrounding the mechanics of plot, Pokwatka chooses to explore the inner worlds that multiple realities can mine.
The cover features an enthusiastic blurb by George Saunders, another master of speculative fiction, and Pokwatka definitely makes good on that top-shelf praise.
You can listen to Renata's review from RDU below:
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