In Conversation: On Luster

Honoree, 2020 National Book Foundation 5 Under 35

In Luster, we meet Edie, a 23-year-old Black woman working in New York publishing who’s barely making rent each month, trying to make sense of her life, and finding herself tangled in a suburban white couple’s open marriage. As if navigating the constantly shifting landscapes of contemporary sexual mores and racial politics weren’t hard enough, she’s abruptly left jobless and then invited to live in her lover’s home, though not by him – by his wife. Called “sharp, strange, propellant – and a whole lot of fun,” by Kirkus, Luster is Raven Leilani’s debut. She’s speaking with Susan Choi, a 2019 National Book Award winner in fiction for Trust Exercise.