Glyph by Ali Smith

Glyph is an ephemeral wonder, woven from delicate lace as fine and strong as spiderweb, following a pattern that emerges only when it’s wrapped around your face.

You know when you laugh so hard you’re crying, and then suddenly you’re actually crying, releasing all kinds of unexpected sorrow? It’s like that. Look, we mostly ignore this, but the things that fill us with cold horror are immediately adjacent to the things that hold our deepest joy. This is an awful thing to understand. We try to forget it as much as possible, so we can survive the days. Glyph draws connections, in the lightest, most casual strokes, between the things we dread and the things we love. What emerges is a tiny microcosm of life, realized in the actual and imagined space between two sisters.

Ali Smith is a genius at doing this -- making very specific characters ring so clearly that they contain the whole world. Patch and Petra stand straddling an abyss, with one foot in a comfortable living room full of hugs and smiles, and the other foot on the point of a sharp knife: abuse, tragedy, the horrors of war. With a warm friendly tone, and with generous kindness, the story invites you to look around and realize: you are standing there too. This is how the story sneaks up on you -- in spite of the constant, stern reminders that you are reading a story and that you have some distance if you want it, Smith’s dialogue is legendary in its immediacy and realism. She makes you feel like you’re listening in on real people in their most vulnerable, intimate conversations, and you don’t want to pull away.

Now that I’ve prepared you for the chill of terror that this book absolutely delivers, let me also tell you: this book is funny! Smart and wry, with inside jokes you can somehow get, and loads of droll self-awareness. These characters are people you want to know and spend time with. It’s very entertaining to read the banter between the sisters, between Patch and her daughter, and to listen in on Petra’s thoughts. How can this book, with this plot, actually work? Probably sorcery. Any summary I offer will certainly be pale and nonsensical. Just read the book -- it will sweep you along quickly, and you’ll see for yourself how the deeper picture develops.

Note: This book is and is not a companion piece to last year’s Gliff. Smith’s disregard for any imperative to make it make sense is breathtaking in the best possible way.