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Winner of the Sala Novel Award
Winner of the Humanities and Social Sciences Award for the Novel
A cry for reparations for Lucy Lurie. She is the victim of an act of terrible sexual violence that devastes her life. Afterwards, she becomes obsessed with the author John Coetzee, the man who wrote the scene of violence in which she was attacked. Withdrawn and fearful of crowds, Lucy nonetheless makes occasional forays into the world of men in her search for Coetzee himself. She means to confront him. The Lucy in his novel, Disgrace, is passive and almost entirely lacking agency. Lucy means to right the record, for she is the lacuna that Coetzee left in his novel—the missing piece of the puzzle. Lucy plans to put herself back in the story, to assert her agency and identity. For Lucy Lurie will be no man’s lacuna.
This riveting, feminist reply to the book considered to be Coetzee’s masterwork is also a moving story of one woman trying to put her life back together after trauma.
★ “A novel that questions the right of an author to appropriate stories as it defends the right of the character to live them.”—Kirkus Reviews (Starred)
“Snyckers brings Lucy to life, warts and all, in a novel that is at turns exasperating, poignant, and unexpectedly funny. Fans of Disgrace will enjoy reading this clever and wry response.”—Jane Voster, Drum Magazine
“Readers will find much to chew on in the questions Snyckers poses about storytelling, power, and agency.”—Publishers Weekly
“Lacuna explores trauma, identity, and the ethics of storytelling, questioning who has the right to tell someone else’s story and how such narratives impact the lives of those involved.”—Early Bird Books