The Deceptions

  I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Deceptions 

Author: Jill Bialosky

Publisher:  Counterpoint

Release Date: 9.6.22

Publisher’s Summary 

An explosive tale of art and myth, desire and betrayal, from New York Times best-selling author Jill Bialosky

Something terrible has happened and I don't know what to do. An unnamed narrator's life is unraveling. Her only child has left home, and her twenty-year marriage is strained. Anticipation about her soon-to-be-released book of poetry looms. She seeks answers to the paradoxes of love, desire, and parenthood among the Greek and Roman gods at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As she passes her days teaching at a boy's prep school, spending her off hours sequestered in the museum's austere galleries, she is haunted by memories of a yearlong friendship with a colleague, a fellow poet, struggling with his craft. As secret betrayals and deceptions come to light, and rage threatens to overwhelm her, the pantheon assume remarkably vivid lives of their own, forcing her to choose between reality and myth in an effort to free herself of the patriarchal constraints of the past and embrace a new vision for her future.

The Deceptions is a page-turning and seductively told exploration of female sexuality and ambition. It is also a brilliantly conceived investigation of a life caught between the dueling magnetic poles of intimacy in a marriage and the privacy necessary for creative endeavor. Celebrated poet, memoirist, and novelist Jill Bialosky has reached new and daring heights in her boldest work yet.

My Review

"Something terrible has happened and I don't know what to do."

I don't remember the last time I highlighted so many passages in a book. I was intrigued from the first page, but not quite sure where the story was going for a large majority of the first half. The unnamed narrator is struggling in her personal life. Her marriage is strained, her son is not thriving at college, and her mother has dementia. Her professional life is filled with misogynistic coworkers and she is constantly editing her upcoming book, The Rape of the Swan, which she describes as "an exploration of motherhood, monogamy, and survival mirrored through the lens of two swans I observed for two years in the lake in Central Park." Her constant hard work and feelings of guilt for her ambition are juxtaposed against The Visiting Poet, whose professional road is paved for him (he has been given  a space in his publisher's upcoming release schedule, despite not even having a book.) As the narrator seeks solace at museums, losing herself in the great stories of history and mythology, readers learn more about her life and "the terrible thing." The second half of the book winds up the tension, but this ending. I will just say that it was a rollercoaster and I LOVED it! A solid contender for my Best Book of 2022.