Companion Piece is so incredible. The book takes place during COVID time, and thus during the current ecological ruination of the world. It weaves in the power of imagination and the power of words (and pronoun changes) to change/make history. It is humble, powerful, and deeply caring. The main character is a free-thinking lesbian. Despite taking place in contemporary society, there is a fair amount of history presented too. I wish that my art could do what this text does, and as skillfully.Publisher's description:
Here we are in extraordinary times. Is this history? What happens when we cease to trust governments, the media, each other? What have we lost? What stays with us? What does it take to unlock our future? Following her astonishing Seasonal Quartet, Ali Smith again lights a way for us through the nightmarish now, in a vital celebration of companionship in all its timeless and contemporary, legendary and unpindownable, spellbinding and shapeshifting forms. Companion Piece stands apart from the Quartet, which remains discrete unto itself. But like Smith's groundbreaking series, this new novel boldly captures the spirit of the times. 'Every hello, like every voice, holds its story ready, waiting.