Brooklyn Thomas Isn't Here

Vails subtle touches of magical realism enrich her insights about the difficulties of young womanhood without overwhelming them. This has charm to spare. Starred Publishers Weekly Review Her best friend is missing, her career is a disaster, shes stuck living with her parents, and now her heart isnt beating. Can Brooklyn Thomas confront her past to save her present? Summer is off to a bad start and getting worse. Brooklyn Thomas is pretty sure shes mostly dead. She cant feel her heart beat and shes disappearing: her reflection keeps vanishing from mirrors. No one else seems to notice. Not her coworkers at the artisanal doughnut shop she works at after failing at her high-paying marketing job. Not her crush, whom she keeps humiliating herself in front of. Not her parents, whose basement suite shes stuck living in now that she cant afford rent anymore. To top it all off, shes hallucinating stars from all her favorite TV shows who want Brooklyn to pull herself together and face the truth about what happened to her career, her best friend, and her relationship with her brother. As her past collides with her present in painful and unexpected ways, Brooklyn must decide if shes strong enough to confront what haunts her and get a second chance at a real lifebefore mostly dead turns into actually dead. Brooklyn Thomas Isnt Here explores how women contort and minimize themselves to fit the roles society and family offer them, and the serious price they pay for doing so.