Well, Boy Parts has secured a spot in my favourite reads of 2020. This book is unbelievable 👏🏻 And to think it’s a debut from Eliza Clark is just even more impressive.
Things get a little weird but stay with me 👀
Set in Newcastle (hooray, a change of scenery), Irina is a young, independent and outrageous woman who works in a bar alongside being a photographer. There’s one thing about her photos, however, that earns her the big bucks: she takes explicit photos of ordinary men.
Fuelled by a lifestyle of drugs, sex and rebellion, Irina is attempting to revive her artistic career alongside juggling an obsessive girl friend who has feelings for her and a judgemental mother. After years of trudging through a reliable catalogue of men, a young Tesco cashier catches her eye one night and so Irina thinks she‘s found her next project.
‘He has curly black hair, brown skin, freckles. An earring - I love girly shit like that. He’s a vision in polyester, a checkout movie star; he’s the Oscar Isaac of random boys who work in Tesco.’
Everything about this book is so refreshing. It’s like a mix between Killing Eve and American Psycho with a demanding and career-hungry woman at the centre of everything. Clark has written something that I wanted to race through but I never wanted to end. The dark humour made me laugh, gasp and feel slightly concerned all the way through.
There are so many interesting aspects of this book: the way Irina sabotages female relationships, how she manipulates men, how you can never trust her narration. Because it’s entirely written in Irina’s voice, I was often left wondering whether she was a victim of her own fabrication.
Influx Press have played a blinder with this publication and it deserves all the publicity it’s received. It’s become a favourite of mine because it’s different, but also because it explores women both watching and desiring sex in a visceral and unashamed way. As much as Irina may be an disagreeable character, you have to admire the way she gets what she wants.
I’d highly recommended picking this up and supporting Influx Press!
- Katie S x
Comments