For readers of Sally Rooney Rachel Cusk Lydia Davis and Jenny Offill--a compact tour de force about sex violence and self-loathing from a ferociously talented new voice in fictionMiranda Popkey's first novel is about desire disgust motherhood loneliness art pain feminism anger envy guilt--written in language that sizzles with intelligence and eroticism. TFor readers of Sally Rooney Rachel Cusk Lydia Davis and Jenny Offill--a compact tour de force about sex violence and self-loathing from a ferociously talented new voice in fictionMiranda Popkey's first novel is about desire disgust motherhood loneliness art pain feminism anger envy guilt--written in language that sizzles with intelligence and eroticism. The novel is composed almost exclusively of conversations between women--the stories they tell each other and the stories they tell themselves about shame and love infidelity and self-sabotage--and careens through twenty years in the life of an unnamed narrator hungry for experience and bent on upending her life. Edgy wry shot through with rage and despair Topics of Conversation introduces an audacious and immensely gifted new novelist.(less)