Edan Lepucki’s “Time’s Mouth” Affirms that Not Even Time Travel Can Make You a Perfect Mother

Edan Lepucki

Time travel usually comes with the dilemma of whether messing with the past is worth it. It assumes you’ll have the power to change what’s already happened. But what if all you could do is witness the life you used to have? This is the time-construct Edan Lepucki built for her latest novel Time’s Mouth—where the most relatable consequence is at stake: the life you miss out on when you ignore the present. 

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Emma Cline’s “The Guest” Shows the Danger of Using Powerful Men as an ‘Emergency Exit’

"The Guest"

We’re all familiar with the coupling of rich, older men and women half their age. It’s the troubled, age-old dynamic you can find in Hollywood, politics, and everywhere in-between. It’s also the sort of relationship 22-year-old Alex tries to game in Emma Cline’s latest novel, The Guest. Alex’s life is spiraling out of her control—a complete nosedive—until 50-something year-old Simon arrives as “the emergency exit she had always suspected would present itself.” As in: When she has no other options, she knows she can take the predatory interest older men have toward her and flip it for her advantage. 

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“Whatever You Do, Don’t Figure ‘It’ Out”: An Interview with Catherine Lacey

When an author’s life aligns with the characters they create it feels personal. That’s how it felt reading Catherine Lacey’s first book Nobody is Ever Missing, where her own escape from New York to New Zealand gave ammunition to the novel. The Answers takes a step outside of that—moving from one personal crisis to the third person views of many. Readers start with Mary Parsons, whose mounting health issues and debt have forced her to take a lucrative job in […]

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