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Description
To make her films, Eva must take out her eyes and use them as batteries. To make her art, Finn must cut open her chest and remove her lungs and heart. To write her novels, Grace must use her blood to power the word processor.
Suture shares three interweaving stories of artists tearing themselves open to make art. Each artist baffles their family, or harms their loved ones, with their necessary sacrifices. Eva's wife worries about her mental health; Finn's teenager follows in her footsteps, using forearm bones for drumsticks; Grace's network constantly worries about the prolific writer's penchant for self-harm, and the over-use of her vitals for art.
The result is a hyper-real exploration of the cruelties we commit and forgive in ourselves and others. Brewer brings a unique perspective to mental illness while exploring how support systems in relationships—spousal, parental, familial—can be both helpful and damaging.
This exciting debut novel is a highly original meditation on the fractures within us, and the importance of empathy as medicine and glue.
Contributor Notes
Nic Brewer is a writer and editor from Toronto. She writes fiction, mostly, which has appeared in Canthius, the Hart House Review, and Hypertrophic Literary, among others. She is the co-founder of Frond, an online literary journal for prose by LGBTQI2SA writers, and formerly co-managed the micropress words(on)pages. She lives in Kitchener, ON, with her partner and her dog. Suture is her first book.
Awards
- Short-listed, Foreword INDIES
Editorial Reviews
“Suture lights up the need for forgiveness while exploring how family and supporting social networks can be at once helpful and injurious. Mental health emerges as a significant theme in the cruelties people inflict upon themselves and others by their actions.” —The Puritan
“This is a beautifully painful book, highly recommended.” —subTerrain Magazine
“It is, at times, too beautiful; it is, at times, a gift. It is impossible to read Brewer’s debut without feeling something, whether that be a reaction to the graphic scenes of body horror, or to the moving depiction of care . . . Suture is a novel of feelings, one that moves between extremes to highlight the care that can sometimes be missed in the trauma of contemporary art. For that reason, it is a stunning debut.” —The Ampersand Review
“Brewer’s nimble writing makes even the most grotesque descriptions intoxicating. Suture is unique tale of creativity, mental health and masochism that is as messy and fearless as it is tender and evocative.” —Broken Pencil
"Suture is built out of biting prose and vivid imagery. It is not a novel for those averse to gore, yet still should be considered a must-read. Creatives will feel seen with Brewer’s description of the artistic process, and achieving suspension of disbelief is easy. Others will enjoy Suture because of its incredibly human characters, each imperfect and multifaceted." —Cloud Lake Literary
