Beautyland: A Novel

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino is a tender, imaginative novel about identity, belonging, loneliness, and what it means to feel out of place in the world.

Born in Philadelphia at the same time Voyager 1 is launched into space, Adina Giorno grows up convinced she has been sent from another planet to observe life on Earth. Through a fax machine, she sends reports to her extraterrestrial relatives, describing the strange, painful, funny, and beautiful habits of human beings.

As Adina moves through childhood and adulthood, her observations become an unusual record of human life—its grief, friendship, love, absurdity, and resilience. When a close friend encourages her to share her messages more widely, Adina begins to wonder whether she may not be as alone as she has always believed.

Original, moving, and quietly funny, Beautyland is a thoughtful choice for readers who enjoy literary fiction with speculative elements.

Paperback, Very Good