An Unremarkable Body

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What to expect

When Katharine is found dead at the foot of her stairs, it is the mystery of her life which consumes daughter, Laura.

The medical examiner's report, in which precious parts of Katharine's body are weighed and categorized, motivates Laura to write her own version of events. To bear witness to the unbearable blank space between each itemized entry.

What emerges is a picture of life lived in the shadows, as well as an attempt to discover how and why her mother died. To make sense of her own grief Laura must piece her mother's body back together and in doing so, she is forced to confront a woman silenced by her own mother and wronged by her husband.

A woman who felt shackled by motherhood and unable to love freely.

With the heart of a memoir and the pace of a thriller, An Unremarkable Body reveals the overwhelming desire of those who mourn to protest that an unremarkable body does not mean an unremarkable life.

Read by Emma Powell
(p) 2017 Orion Publishing Group

Critics Review

An intriguing tale of love, loss and missed opportunities . . . although infused with sadness, it is written with verve and delivers an amazing twist
SUNDAY MIRROR
Tender and moving, this part-thriller, part-memoir will leave you floored
EMERALD STREET
A haunting debut about grief, loss and motherhood - and a woman's identity beyond that role
THE POOL
This novel pulls you in and will have you racing to reach the end
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
Extraordinarily sensuous storytelling that makes the reader's heart ache in sympathy
OBSERVER
A sensitive examination of a life frustrated by mores and circumstance
DAILY MAIL
An elegant, haunting book with a flawed narrator, troubled relationships, and a mystery at the heart . . . Lodato's writing is spare, confident and affecting. A compelling read
Joanna Barnard, author of PRECOCIOUS and HUSH LITTLE BABY
An incredibly moving story of maternal love, sacrifice, and how little we know about those closest to us. This beautifully-written novel had me gripped until the last page
Chloë Mayer, author of THE BOY MADE OF SNOW
An Unremarkable Body is infused with sadness but avoids being morbid or cloying. It is written with verve, pace and sensitivity. A fabulous debut that also delivers an amazing twist as a final flourish
THE PEOPLE
An Unremarkable Body is a well-crafted story of grief and loss. Beautiful, sensitive, and poignant
Clarissa Goenawan, author of RAINBIRDS
An uplifting story
GRAZIA
Pleasingly distinct . . . the structuring of the chapters by means of an introductory extract from the autopsy report is a rather ingenious one . . . . this organizational quirkiness sets Lodato's work apart from the start . . . a novel that shows notable promise . . . . I'm already intrigued to see what Lodato writes next
INDEPENDENT
A beautifully told tale of love and loss, which ever so gently reaffirms that no life is indeed unremarkable . . . Lodato probes the secrets that are scattered through one character's life and draws us into her world . . . absorbing and compelling . . . startlingly bittersweet . . . I couldn't stop reading and now I'm done I wish I could read it all over again
Ronnie Turner, book blogger
AN UNREMARKABLE BODY is clever, evocative and sensitively written. There's so much to love about this book. These characters will creep into your thoughts
Polly Courtney, author of FERAL YOUTH
Lodato's skill is that of Katharine's pathologist; precise, delicate and thorough. A tender dissection of brutal truths
Dexter Petley, author of WHITE LIES

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