Send Nudes, Saba Sams
‘There’s introspection and intimacy paired with the ugliness and frustration of ordinary life. But this is what the book is about – the chaos of coming of age.’
In this set of ten stories, Sams weaves together the voices of women and girls at different stages of their lives. Covering topics such as sex, friendship, loneliness, abortion, and miscarriage, the author describes the transition from girlhood to womanhood, the characters straddling that thin and complex border and navigating the accompanying changes in different ways.
The author’s writing shines brighter in the longer stories. ‘Snakebite’ was incredibly compelling and probably my favourite one. It narrates how university student Meg befriends a toxic young woman, Lara, resulting in a drug-and-alcohol-fueled downward spiral. Party girl Lara possesses a natural magnetism, acting more like a black hole that swallows every bit of light in Meg’s life. One feels the impulse to grab Meg by the shoulders and shake her so that she wakes up from this trance she mistakes for friendship.
In ‘Tinderloin’, the opening story, we follow 16-year-old Grace who starts dating a man eleven years her senior. When the story hits a turning point, Grace develops a deeper attachment to his dog than to her own boyfriend.
‘Blue 4eva’ is a story of teenage anger, family, friendship, and the desire to be liked and to belong. Set in a Spanish villa during a vacation that is supposed to unite their newly-formed family, Stella spends time with her new stepsister Jasmine and her captivating friend, Blue.
The contemplative style and overall flow of the collection make it incredibly readable, although the more graphic and explicit parts may require taking breaks between the stories. Even though not all the stories left a significant mark on me, the ones that did make this book worth a read.
The characters don’t always seem to know what they want or why they want it. They make mistakes, get into messy situations, make bad decisions. There’s introspection and intimacy paired with the ugliness and frustration of ordinary life. But this is what the book is about – the chaos of coming of age.
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