This is Life

Rhodes, one of Granta’s “20 Best British Novelists,” has produced another wonderful work with his latest novel (after Little Hands Clapping), about art student Aurélie Renard resolving to do something daring with a school project and in the process acquiring a baby for a week. Meanwhile, Aurélie meets Leandre, with whom she feels an immediate connection; her best friend, Sylvie, prone to avoiding relationships, falls for a man based only on his picture. All threads lead to an art exhibit by Le Machine, a famed performance artist who has captured the imagination of Paris with feats of scatological daring. Though Aurélie’s acquisition of the baby is contrived, each of the novel’s threads are deftly interwoven over a period of seven days, revealing in the quotidian the poignancy of life as, repeatedly, Rhodes displays his talent for finding the wonder in small moments. Often comic and sometimes tragic, readers will be immersed in these characters, each with a different rhythm; even the least significant of supporting players are brought to life. (Dec.)