Hannah Pittard's sixth book, If You Love It, Let It Kill You, is a quirky work of autofiction about an author and professor tested by her ex-husband's success, her codependent family, and an encounter with a talking cat.
Hana P. goes into a tailspin when she hears that her ex-husband's debut novel chronicles his marriage-ending affair with her dear friend. (That Hana wrote a whole memoir about said acrimonious divorce--i.e., Pittard's We Are Too Many--doesn't lessen the offense.) Researching her ex's career, Hana learns that he also published a short story in which she's "knifed to death by a homeless man." The news prompts her frenetic inquiry into the ownership of stories and life's possible routes.
Although Pittard (Visible Empire; Listen to Me) opens by declaring, "What follows is pure fantasy," her protagonist has a clear autobiographical heritage. Hana lives in Kentucky, with her divorced parents and sister nearby. She has a comfortable partnership with boyfriend Bruce, and a good relationship with his daughter, "the eleven-year-old." However, she's been texting with "the Irishman" and is tempted to resume their affair. Meanwhile, she's fending off the flirtatious attentions of a 30-something student.
With her affectations and unreliability, Hana can be a frustrating narrator, but the metafictional angle renders her more wily than precious. The dialogue and scenes sparkle, and there are delightful characters, including Hana's father, who's had five wives and starts microdosing psilocybin at age 80. Pluck any line and it's sure to be memorable ("I know my mother like the inside of my elbow"). This gleefully odd book is perfect for Miranda July and Patricia Lockwood fans. --Rebecca Foster, freelance reviewer, proofreader, and blogger at Bookish Beck