If You Love It, Let It Kill You

In the clever latest from Pittard (We Are Too Many), a novelist and creative writing instructor named Hana P. reflects on her life and the craft of fiction over the course of writing her latest book. Reality and fiction blur throughout, as when Hana reads a story written by her ex-husband, in which she recognizes her unnamed new boyfriend in a character named Bruce. She decides to “borrow” the name, referring to her boyfriend as Bruce throughout her narration, which takes the form of her novel. Then she starts receiving texts from a man she calls The Irishman, with whom she had an affair while still married to her husband, asking to see her again. Hana’s students regularly intrude on her thoughts, providing imaginary critiques of her book (“We like this thing with the Irishman.... That said, is it too much of a convenience? You’re bored? He’s back in town?”). She also reflects on her 80-year-old father’s depression and whether it’s hereditary; reminds herself that she’s never wanted to be a mother, despite cultivating a motherly relationship with Bruce’s 11-year-old daughter; and questions what her fling with The Irishman really meant to her. The novel brims with quick wit, sometimes directed at Hana (“ ‘Writers,’ [Bruce] said, with not a little bit of disgust,” after he learns about the drama with her ex). The writers here might be insufferable, but in Pittard’s skillful hands, they can also be entertaining. (July)