Wardini Book Review: Interesting Facts About Space – Emily Austin (Atlantic Books, $36.99)

Emily Austin, author of the hit book Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, has released a new book, Interesting Facts About Space.

REVIEW

Enid is falling apart a bit. She has a nice apartment and a good job at the Space Agency working with material she knows and loves. She has a good friend in her colleague. She dates a lot and has recently been hanging out with her step-sisters.

But Enid is a master of self-sabotage. If she likes a date, she texts them that it’s not working out, trying to hang on to the good times before they go sour.

Her phobia of bald men has spiralled so much that she has to climb in and out of her apartment window to avoid the new neighbour across the hall.

She’s convinced someone enters her apartment when she’s not there and that she’s being followed. She thinks she’s going mad.

Enid’s life takes an unexpected turn when circumstances force her to confront the enigma of her past. This mystery becomes the pivot of the plot, but it’s Enid’s complex personality that truly captivates the reader.

Though tumultuous, her thoughts are portrayed with clarity and a touch of humour. Her hearing impairment leads to amusing misunderstandings and thrilling jump scares. Despite her endearing qualities, Enid struggles to accept the love and adoration she deserves.

As the story of Enid’s childhood and teen years plays out, we come to understand how she operates almost simultaneously as she figures it out for herself.

Enid is on a journey of self-knowledge that is deeply uncomfortable for her and fascinating for us. Her distress and disorder are heart-breaking; her phone calls to her mother citing interesting facts about space, calming to both of them, are captivating and funny.

Interesting Facts About Space is all at once comforting and thrilling. The people around Enid are complicated and lovely, and the mystery of her paranoia is fascinating and endearing. Emily Austin is an author who observes the world and its inhabitants closely. I love her writing.