Quiet Time

Description

“Think ‘The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’ reimagined by Kathy Acker.” — The Toronto Star

Growing up in an isolated island town with her siblings and absentee artist parents, Grace has an insatiable need for attention. She looks for it first in her playmates, taking innocent games too far, and then in men, delighting in the power her body has over them, and even while she pursues solace in writing, a predatory teacher’s fixation taints the one thing she loves. When she meets Jack, a young painter, she becomes muse and lover at once, and it seems she’s finally found the attention she’s been seeking.

Fuelled by drugs, lust, and a deep desire for connection, Grace and Jack’s turbulent relationship soon turns dark, obsessive, and dangerous. While Jack’s star ascends, Grace finds herself disappearing — becoming transparent like the many ghosts that appear to her. Between blackouts and binges, hallucinations and psychotic breaks, Grace begins to wonder whether anyone sees her at all.

An unflinching, unchronological coming-of-age story told through vivid and mesmerizing vignettes, Quiet Time is Grace’s story of resilience, bravery, and redemption, as she fights for her voice in a world attempting to silence it. Imbued with folklore, legend, and the supernatural, Harvey’s “uncannily transparent” prose (Lisa Moore) and “refreshingly urgent” voice (Joel Thomas Hynes) explores themes of growth, forgiveness, and the pains we must endure to become whole.

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