Self-portrait With Boy: A Novel

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Synopsis

Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

“Fabulously written, this spellbinding debut novel is a real page-turner. A powerful, brilliantly imagined story” (Library Journal, starred review) about an ambitious young artist whose accidental photograph of a boy falling to his death could jumpstart her career, but devastate her most intimate friendship.

Lu Rile is a relentlessly focused young photographer struggling to make ends meet. Working three jobs, responsible for her aging father, and worrying that her crumbling loft apartment is being sold to developers, she is at a point of desperation. One day, in the background of a self-portrait, Lu accidentally captures an image of a boy falling to his death. The photograph turns out to be startlingly gorgeous, the best work of art she’s ever made. It’s an image that could change her life…if she lets it.

But the decision to show the photograph is not easy. The boy is her neighbors’ son, and the tragedy brings all the building’s residents together. It especially unites Lu with the boy’s beautiful grieving mother, Kate. As the two forge an intense bond based on sympathy, loneliness, and budding attraction, Lu feels increasingly unsettled and guilty, torn between equally fierce desires: to advance her career, and to protect a woman she has come to love.

Set in early 90s Brooklyn on the brink of gentrification, Self-Portrait with Boy is a “sparkling debut” (The New York Times Book Review) about the emotional dues that must be paid on the road to success and a powerful exploration of the complex terrain of female friendship. “The conflict is rich and thorny, raising questions about art and morality, love and betrayal, sacrifice and opportunism, and the chance moments that can define a life…It wrestles with the nature of art, but moves with the speed of a page-turner” (Los Angeles Times).

Chapters

  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 01 Open

    Duration: 14s
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 02 Quote

    Duration: 17s
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 03 Ch01

    Duration: 06min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 04 Ch02

    Duration: 22min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 05 Ch03

    Duration: 11min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 06 Ch04

    Duration: 31min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 07 Ch05

    Duration: 37min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 08 Ch06

    Duration: 23min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 09 Ch07

    Duration: 27min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 10 Ch08

    Duration: 09min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 11 Ch09

    Duration: 04min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 12 Ch10

    Duration: 21min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 13 Ch11

    Duration: 31min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 14 Ch12

    Duration: 17min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 15 Ch13

    Duration: 33min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 16 Ch14

    Duration: 14min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 17 Ch15

    Duration: 12min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 18 Ch16

    Duration: 29min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 19 Ch17

    Duration: 14min
  • SelfPortraitWithBoy 20 Ch18

    Duration: 27min
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