Lulu: A romance

Jagose’s prose is sophisticated and descriptive, a litany, in places, of words put together exquisitely and often unexpectedly. ELIZABETH JOLLEY, THE AGE

And not just any chimpanzee, which would have been marvel enough, but Lulu who hoots and combs her eyebrows towards her eyes with ther fingers, who takes a public delight in the furry world of her body, who likes nothing better than to have our attention at the end of the day, lessons over, an unremarkable even ordinary kid, poking a finger into the corner if her mouth, her hair like a bank teller’s, combed flat on either side of a central parting, laughing up at us, drawing our twin gazes from us like venom.

Scientists Kate and Mitch adopt a young chimp, Lulu, in pursuit of their research into the development of language. Growing fonder of Lulu than is perhaps scientific, they could never have guessed at the creaking shifts of affection and desire that will be played out around her, the newly dark centre of their household. Comic, bizarre, perceptive and beautiful, Lulu: A Romance explores the intricacies of love in the modern world.

Jagose writes with density and poetry, each word chosen to perfection. KIRSTEN LAWSON, THE CANBERRA TIMES