—RIVA LEHRER, artist and curator
“In Nicola Griffith’s So Lucky, Mara is a vibrant, active, social justice–minded woman stalked by a phantom. The phantom threatens her work, her relationships—nothing less than her identity. This angry, funny, cleverly written novel about the onset of disability in a world that values fitness above all ushers in a new wave of disability stories. Or let’s hope so.”
—SUSAN NUSSBAUM, author of Good Kings Bad Kings
“Nicola Griffith’s So Lucky is compelling reading, a tour de force of the onset of disability. This is the first novel I have read that describes an autobiographical experience of disability from Day One with a relentlessness that can parallel a disability itself. It is intense, sad, and dramatic, combining mystery, romance, terror (internal and external), and hope. Just like life itself.”
—STEVEN E. BROWN, cofounder of the Institute on Disability Culture
“Nicola Griffith’s depiction of Mara, newly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, shows how we, as humans, deal with anger and love, hopelessness and hope. Griffith’s lean, taut prose, and her willingness to delve deeply into Mara’s fears, transforms So Lucky into a story about what we all share: an unpredictable life filled with vulnerability and a need for community.”
—KENNY FRIES, author of In the Province of the Gods
A Note About the Author
Nicola Griffith is a onetime self-defense instructor who turned to writing full-time upon being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She now holds a Ph.D. and is the multiple-award-winning author of seven novels—most recently Hild and the Aud Torvingen series—and a memoir. A native of Yorkshire, England, she lives with her wife, the writer Kelley Eskridge, in Seattle. You can sign up for email updates here.
MCD × FSG Originals
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
175 Varick Street, New York 10014
Copyright © 2018 by Nicola Griffith
All rights reserved
First edition, 2018
E-book ISBN: 978-0-374-71834-3
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This is a work of fiction. All the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Begin Reading
Acknowledgments
Also by Nicola Griffith
Praise for So Lucky
A Note About the Author
Copyright
So Lucky: A Novel Page 13