When an American woman named Linda moves to Brazil to accompany her husband during his university residency, she grows obsessed with the women she meets: Marta, a Black maid who has deep roots in Linda’s newfound São Paulo home; and Celia, an enigmatic artist who forces Linda to question her codependent marriage.
It’s a challenge reflected in the narration of Gabriella Burnham’s debut novel, “It Is Wood, It Is Stone” (One World, 224 pp., ★★★ out of four). Linda constantly addresses her husband, Dennis, as “you,” and the entire novel, much like Linda’s life, is crafted around our narrator’s position to him. “I can still hear your words,” is how the book starts, and the style continues throughout.
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Under a less deft hand, this could be hokey. But one of the greatest draws of “It Is Wood, It Is Stone” is Burnham’s exquisite prose, making Linda’s shrewd observations lush and alive: “I saw your cheeks flower, your teeth blossom.” The writing veers from dreamlike to brutal and unflinching. “Sometimes I would take a peek at the damage, the dark purple and puckering wounds,” Linda narrates, while her complex interiority constantly evolves.
It’s ironic, considering how easily Linda’s identity blurs depending on the people around her. It's what she learned to live with while stuck in an unhappy marriage, one borne out of necessity rather than compatibility.
When Linda meets Marta, she fixates on their power struggles and their lack of friendship. When Linda meets Celia, Linda paints her portrait repeatedly without even realizing whose face she’s sketching at first. The constant reshaping is the main tension of the novel. While the framework of “It Is Wood, It Is Stone” might read like a long letter to a man with a rather unimpressive personality, it’s actually a self-examination of Linda as she figures out who she is, and what she wants.
But while Linda’s soul-searching is made compelling through Burnham’s lyricism, it’s sometimes hampered by brief moments that lack self-awareness. Linda may be interesting, but she’s not always likable. That’s normally fine — main characters don’t have to be a reader’s best friend. If anything, flaws are interesting.
The problem with Linda’s shortcomings is that they aren’t always recognized as such. This comes across most clearly in her relationship with Marta. Scenes where Linda defends Marta border on a savior complex, and scenes where Linda craves forgiveness or approval from Marta beg the question: Why does Linda want Marta to perform this work that isn’t in her job description?
There are some moments when the novel references the power dynamics at play. “I felt silly for believing that Marta and I would become instant friends, for having assumed that we would feel fundamentally connected, like an apprentice to her mentor,” Linda says, later realizing that she is just “a fleeting asteroid in the grand scheme of her universe.”
But by the end of the novel, it’s hard to tell if these are the necessary truths Linda honestly believes, or if they’re just fleeting musings to her. Perhaps that doesn’t matter so much as our own critical reading of her actions. After all, characters aren’t always made to be followed and loved unconditionally. If anything, that’s the message at the crux of Linda’s story, the ethos at the heart of the novel.
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July 28, 2020 at 06:00PM
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Review: A woman searches her soul in Gabriella Burnham's lyrical 'It Is Wood, It Is Stone' - USA TODAY
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