P&P Live! Raven Leilani | LUSTER with Allison P. Davis

As if navigating the constantly shifting landscapes of contemporary sexual manners and racial politics weren’t hard enough, main character Edie finds herself unemployed and invited into Eric’s home—though not by Eric. She becomes a hesitant ally to his wife and a de facto role model to his adopted daughter. Edie may be the only Black woman young Akila knows.

Irresistibly unruly and strikingly beautiful, razor-sharp and slyly comic, sexually charged and utterly absorbing, Raven Leilani’s Luster is a portrait of a young woman trying to make sense of her life—her hunger, her anger—in a tumultuous era. It is also a haunting, aching description of how hard it is to believe in your own talent, and the unexpected influences that bring us into ourselves along the way.

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Allison P. Davis is a Features Writer at New York Magazine and The Cut. Her essays and features have appeared in a wide range of publications, including GQ, the New York Times, Wired, Elle, California Sunday, and Travel and Leisure. Her book, Horny, is forthcoming from Avid Reader Press.