On a whim, I opened Boy Parts by Eliza Clark on my kindle one afternoon, just to see what the opening few lines were, and didn’t stop reading. It felt like Boy Parts literally grabbed me by the throat and demanded I kept reading it. So I did. It was a refreshing (albeit disturbing) palette cleaner against my other recent reads that I’m still thinking about long after I finished it.
Opening sentence: I’m sick in my mouth on the bus into work.
Eddie from Tesco
Boy Parts is the story of Irina Sturges, a lead character you’re not meant to necessarily like and you will most likely find a few of her life choices questionable, but you are unable to stop yourself from wanting to know more about her.
Originally from Newcastle, she now lives in London and is a photographer. Her subject matter literally being boy parts. She is drawn to unconventional looking men and photographs them in vulnerable, sexually suggestive poses. Including Eddie who works in her local Tesco. He quickly becomes infatuated with her, with some dubious consequences…
Irina works in a bar to earn money while trying to get her photography career to take off, she has a not-so-healthy friendship with Flo and not-so-healthy relationship with drugs and alcohol. What Boy Parts captures so well is that time in your 20s when the world is apparently your oyster but you have no money or real direction so just flounder and distract in order to get through the days.
Who is anyone really
I don’t know if I’m trying to tell you it’s for the best if I stay away from you, or of I’m begging you to stay with me forever.
Irina is a mass of contradictions, vulnerability, narcissism and confusion. She is chaos on the page but you feel for her. Or at least, I did. She desperately wants to make an impact but struggles to make herself heard. She pushes herself to the limits so you are on the edge of your seat reading.
Eliza Clark’s writing style is so funny, dry, nuanced and cutting. I laughed aloud so many times at her phrasing, while also recoiling in disgust at moments too. But I mean that in a good way. Boy Parts is the most visceral read I’ve had in a long time. Loved it.
- Get your copy of Boy Parts here;
- Published by Faber & Faber 2023;
- 304 pages;
- My rating:
Books on the 7:47 