BENNETT, CLAIRE-LOUISE — Checkout 19

London : Jonatan Cape 2021 224 p. SOFTCOVER: (Orig. paperback. Name and dedication on title page. VERY GOOD) This is the rare first edition with the portrait taped on the front cover. Checkout 19 is a deeply felt, original and devastatingly moving novel from the astonishingly accomplished author of Pond. It follows a young woman who finds herself in love, in conflict with life and death, and in a life. With fierce imagination, a woman revisits the moments that shape her life; from crushes on teachers to navigating relationships in a fast-paced world; from overhearing her grandmothers' peculiar stories to nurturing her own personal freedom and a boundless love of literature. Fusing fantasy with lived experience, Checkout 19 is a vivid and mesmerising journey through the small traumas and triumphs that define us - as readers, as writers, as human beings.