So Lucky

Winner of the 2019 Washington State Book Award

Mara Tagarelli is on top of her world. She’s the head of a multimillion-dollar AIDS foundation, an accomplished martial artist, and happily married. She has never met a problem she can’t solve — until suddenly she can’t solve any of them. In the space of a single week her wife leaves her, she is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and she loses her job.

Now everything begins to feel like a threat. At first, she thinks it’s just her newfound sense of vulnerability. Then she realises the threat of violence is real, deadly, and heading straight for her.

But how do you defend yourself when you can’t trust your own body? How do you face down danger when everyone, including you, believes you are helpless and monsters are coming? You find your people, and you build a community.

So Lucky blazes with authority, the understanding of the life that becomes possible when we stop believing lies, find our strengths, and learn new ways to fight.

‘A compact, brutal story of losing power and creating community … So Lucky is beautifully written, with a flexible, efficient precision that embodies the protagonist’s voice and character.’ New York Times Book Review

‘A psychological thriller, effective and chilling … A disconcerting but very necessary book.’ ― Dana Hansen, Chicago Review of Books