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Jacquelin Maley - Lonely Mouth
Jacquelin Maley - Lonely Mouth
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A Tender Exploration of Desire, Identity, and the Bonds of Sisterhood
From the bestselling author of The Truth About Her comes Lonely Mouth, a vivid and emotionally resonant novel that delves into the complexities of womanhood, appetite, and self-worth. Jacqueline Maley crafts a narrative that is both intimate and universally relatable, capturing the nuanced ways women navigate their desires and identities in a world that often seeks to define them.
The story follows half-sisters Matilda and Lara, who, despite sharing a tumultuous childhood, have carved out starkly different lives. Lara thrives as a model in Paris, embracing a life of freedom and beauty, while Matilda leads a solitary existence in Sydney, working at the bustling restaurant Bocca and harbouring an unspoken affection for her boss, celebrity chef Colson. Their fragile equilibrium is disrupted when their estranged father, Angus Dante, re-enters their lives, forcing Matilda to confront long-buried emotions and the hunger she has long suppressed.
Maley's prose is lauded for its lyrical detail and immersive quality, bringing to life the intricate dynamics of family and the internal struggles of her characters. As noted by Books+Publishing, "Her ability to capture the smallest moments and intricate character details make the world feel vivid and authentic."
Lonely Mouth is a poignant exploration of the ways in which our pasts shape our present, and how the pursuit of fulfillment can lead us to unexpected places. It's a compelling read for anyone interested in the delicate interplay between personal history and the quest for self-understanding.
Blurb
Blurb
'Lonely mouth ... It's a Japanese expression. It means, like, you feel like you want to eat something, but you don't know what it is. You're looking for just the right thing. But maybe there is no right thing. Maybe you don't need anything at all.'
Matilda and Lara are half-sisters who share an unreliable mother and a chaotic past. In every other way, though, they are very different from each other. Lara, ten years younger than Matilda, is a model, living and working in Paris - for her, life is expansive, carefree, beautiful. Matilda's life, in contrast, is solitary, contained, ordered. She works in one of Sydney's buzziest restaurants, Bocca, with an unrequited crush on her boss, celebrity chef Colson. If she's careful - and she always is - she can keep everything in its proper place. Hold the balance between hunger and satiation.
But when Lara's father, the long-absent, erratic Angus Dante, comes back into the sisters' lives to amke amends for his past misdeeds, Matilda's compartmentalised life goes seriously awry. As everything blows apart, Matilda is forced to come to a reckoning with who she is, and how to satisfy the hunger she wants to deny.
From bestselling author Jacqueline Maley, Lonely Mouth is a tender, vivid and fiercely relatable novel about the conflicted way women think about their bodies, their appetites, and themselves in the world, about the loneliness of girls and women, and the way we believe ourselves to be worthy - or not - of love.
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