Chimerica: A Novel

Fiction. California Interest. Down-and-out Tamil American trial lawyer Maya Ramesh fights to save a painted lemur come to life, and in settings that range from Oakland, California, to a Malagasy rain forest, becomes a champion for them both. In magical realist tradition Anita Felicelli’s satiric novel, CHIMERICA, looks at the inherent absurdities that drive systems of culture, power, and law. Fans of Marquez, Kelly Link, and Helen Oyeyemi will find CHIMERICA a spirited investigation of the ways in which art is codified and commodified–a contemporary philosophical, non-ideological, novel about art, originality, and American culture. Felicelli’s remarkable CHIMERICA is a coolly surrealist legal thriller–in turns sly, absurd, emotionally vivid, and satirically incisive–that shifts the reader into a world just adjacent to our own.–Jonathan Lethem

Felicelli blends the matter-of-fact with the mysterious in this utterly unique and compellingly readable debut. CHIMERICA is more than the story of a woman coming into her own power; it’s a keen dive into the worlds of law, visual art, and marriage. You really couldn’t ask for a novel with better ingredients. Did I mention there’s a talking lemur? THERE’S A TALKING LEMUR.–Kelly Luce