Cecilia

Starred review from March 11, 2024
A 24-year-old woman is flooded with fraught memories of her early teen years after encountering an estranged friend in Chang’s striking latest (after Organ Meats). Seven works as a cleaner in a chiropractor’s office and still lives at home with her mother and grandmother Ama, whose fantastical stories shape the family’s mythology and Seven’s obsession with human waste (Ama says she was thrown into a well as an infant, then later rescued from a nearby city’s toilet and immediately put to work cleaning it). At her job, Seven listens through the bathroom door while others pee, visualizing the receptionist’s discreet trickle as “the rain in movies.” Her odd routine is upended by the appearance of Cecilia, whom she hasn’t seen since they were 13. As they ride the bus together, Seven reminisces about eating Cecilia’s stray hairs and chewed-up snacks in middle school, and how the two would practice kissing in the school bathroom. Their friendship dissolved after a bizarre sexual encounter, which produced mutual feelings of hurt and shame. As Chang works up to the details of that incident, she explores the ways in which the body can elicit both desire and disgust, and offers an original look at the volatility of a teen friendship. It’s another high-water mark from a prolific and provocative author. Agent: Julia Kardon, HG Literary.