“ explores grief, love, creativity, youth, and the nuanced grammar of the body through a lens of queerness and gender expansiveness. These are more like stories of young people coming into themselves.” Body Grammar does its best work in its quiet contemplations of grief and heartbreak but also in the ways it weaves gender and queerness into its narrative. . Never once does it feel like there’s a coming out story in Body Grammar. “Ohman writes on bodies exquisitely, and the modeling world is fleshed out with great worldbuilding details. Jess Walter, bestselling author of The Cold Millions Jules Ohman is a young writer worth watching.” “A terrific debut, cool and laconic on its glamorous surface, but roiling with deep questions of identity and art, love, and the irrepressible need for meaning in life. “Like a figure in a glossy magazine ad, Ohman’s debut novel is lithe and invitingly mysterious.” “Deeply moving. If you don’t find yourself rooting for Lou and Ivy all the way through, then I don’t think we can be friends, tbh.” “Ohman deftly crafts a heart-aching, healing, and clarifying journey of self-acceptance, trauma recovery, and queer love in this debut coming-of-age novel.” Jami Attenberg, author of All This Could Be Yours It’s also sticky with big truths and stinging heartaches. “ Body Grammar is gorgeously written it’s chic, vivid, and glittering. ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF THE SUMMER: BuzzFeed

But in the limelight, Lou begins to fear that she’s losing her identity-as an individual, as an artist, and as a person still in love with the girl she left behind.Ī sharply observed and intimate story of grief and healing, doubt and self-acceptance set against the hyper-image-conscious industry of modeling and high fashion, Body Grammar shines with the anxieties of finding your place in the world and the heartbreaking beauty of pursuing love. It’s a whirlwind of learning how to walk and how to command a body she’s never felt at ease in. Determined to find a purpose, Lou moves to New York and steps into the dizzying world of international fashion shows, haute couture, and editorial shoots. She prefers to take photographs, especially of Ivy, her close friend and secret crush.īut when a hike ends in a tragic accident, Lou finds herself lost and ridden with guilt. Lou has no interest in fashion or being in the spotlight.

roiling with deep questions of identity and art, love, and the irrepressible need for meaning in life' (Jess Walter, bestselling author of The Cold Millions)īy the time Lou turns eighteen, modeling agents across Portland have scouted her for her striking androgynous look. A coming-of-age queer love story set in the glamorous but grueling world of international modeling-a 'terrific debut.

Body Grammar by Jules Ohman