'Exquisite . . . readers will find themselves transformed by it' Claire Lynch'Stunning . . .
dazzlingly laser-like and movingly original' Lara Feigel'Inventive and searching' Calvin
Bedient 'I am awestruck . . . a masterpiece' Mary GordonThe stunningly original exploration of
pregnancy and childbirth by the acclaimed author of Citizen In this the landmark achievement
that crowned the first phase of her writing career Claudia Rankine invites us into the lives
of Liv and her husband Erland as they find themselves propelled into the classic plot: boy
loves girl girl gets pregnant. The couple's journey is charted through dreams conversations
and reflections in a text like no other deftly moulding language and crossing genres to
arrive at new life: baby Ersatz. Plot is an inventive and engrossing meditation on pregnancy
and the changes it heralds: the potential bodily cost the loss of self the sense of impending
stasis. Each fear compounds Liv's reluctance to bring new life into a bewildering world. A
profoundly daring collection it explodes the emotive capabilities of language and form to
achieve an unparalleled understanding of creation and existence.
