Luster — Raven Leilani
Luster tells the story of Edie, a young woman in her twenties living in New York City. In fact, it is Edie herself who narrates her story. She recounts what she sees, thinks, and feels living in the world as a young black woman.
Edie’s mind is not exactly the coziest place. She can be mean and cold — like when she relishes about beating a pregnant woman for the last seat at the subway — and there will be times when you will want to shake her and ask her “Why are you doing this?!” — like when she accepts an invitation to come inside the house of a creepy old man. Edie doesn’t make the best decisions because she seems to not care very much about what might happen to her. However, she also has a creativity inside her fighting to come out, which has become her safe space and maybe the thing getting her by.
At the beginning of the book Edie is dating Eric, a white married man twice her age. As the story progresses Edie will become involved with Eric’s family in a peculiar manner. The plot is simple, or not much of a plot at all. Instead, the strength and focus of this book is Edie’s character.
Edie is not always nice, but she is always real. She has the flaws everyone has. She’s insecure, irresponsible and has low self-esteem. She is very lonely and will hold on to any possible sign of affection at her own detriment. But she is also incredibly self-aware and has a very dark and funny sense of humor. Edie knows she is being watched and judged at all times. Whether it is by the men who see her as a piece of meat or by the police who suspect of her only because of the color of her skin, she knows that this world will never let her forget that she is a woman and she is black.
This is the debut novel of 31-year-old American writer Raven Leilani, who received raving reviews when it was published in 2020. In Luster, Leilani uses a language that is both visceral and poetic, both descriptive and straightforward, to touch upon subjects like racism, sex, religion, family, art, misogyny, social media, and police violence, from an entirely contemporary perspective.
This book will make you feel uncomfortable because, just like its protagonist, they tell it like it is. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t say I enjoyed coming back to it. However, what I do appreciate is that Leilani has created a memorable character that reflects a slice of real life. This author with her sharp way with words sure has a lot more to say.
This review was originally published in Spanish at Cuaderno Reciclado.
