gliff

by Ali Smith

Ali Smith’s Gliff is a rare balancing act: very smart yet supremely accessible, with language playing like a finely tuned instrument. Smith effortlessly lets the plot reveal itself while weaving in political critique. A brother and sister—once sure their mother would always be there—gradually learn they are on their own, and that the world isn’t the trustworthy place they need it to be. When they finally find somewhere to stay, they are labeled “unverifieds,” and the creeping unease in the story becomes hauntingly real. Dystopian, but scaringly, it’s feeling less and less distant.