This handsome softcover arrived on my porch yesterday, from BCer hippolein in Finland, for the Lesbian-themed fiction sweepstakes; many thanks! I don't know yet if I'm the winner or the decoy, but either way I appreciate the book!

Later: The premise here is intriguing: protagonist Celeste has agreed to participate in a lengthy psychological experiment for the promise of a very rich reward, half a million dollars. To get it, she must spend four years in total isolation, with no contact by voice, writing, or in person with any other human - aside from computerized text messages to her "controllers". Now, that's extreme! I mean, I'm a loner and an introvert and can happily spend days at a time without seeing another person, but I do like to be in touch online from time to time, get the occasional dinner with friends, etc., and the thought of four entire years of solitude is quite daunting! (The setup reminded me of the novel The Last One by Alexandra Oliva, which featured a woman who's participating in a reality-TV game in a remote wilderness area and finds herself on her own - but she's not required to avoid communication, and the threat has to do with a global plague that struck the outside world while she was incommunicado.)

Here, Celeste finds an intruder near her protected living area, attacks out of fear, and feels she must give aid, even if it results in breaking her contract. (I immediately wondered whether this was orchestrated as part of the experiment; whether it was or not I'll leave for the reader to discover.)

Celeste finds herself drawn to Olivia, her wounded "guest", but has to wonder how much influence the preceding period of isolation has on her emotions and her need for social contact. Indeed, she sometimes suffers hallucinations; how much of this is even real?

Even without this surprise intrusion, Celeste has lots of demons in her past, including a wildly dysfunctional relationship with her drug-addict mother; during her alone-time, she hallucinates her as well as other people from her past, and eventually she'll have to come to terms with a lot of things.

I can't go into the last third of the book without major spoilers, but I will say it was an unusual and intriguing storyline, with some harrowing aspects and some marvelous ones. And lots of "how *would* I react in that situation?"...

I left this book in the Little Free Library beside City Hall near the rail-trail; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2019 One-Word Title release challenge. ***