In At the Deep End

March 18, 2019
Davies’s not-quite-romantic debut showcases a good sense of comedic pacing, but undermines itself with a judgmental, distancing attitude and an unwillingness to lean into either a happy ending or a zanily catastrophic one. Three years into a sexual dry spell, civil servant Julia accepts an invitation to accompany the couple she lives with to a party. There, she has one last terrible hookup with a man, and then, after a single romantic encounter with a woman, dives into a lesbian identity. She soon meets Sam, a butch painter whose connection to the underground scene appeals to Julia, but their relationship is stressed by Julia’s discomfort with Sam’s penchant for BDSM, sex clubs, and nonmonogamy, particularly her ongoing involvement with her married French girlfriend, Virginie. Secondary characters, such as Julia’s work buddies, her thoughtless “semi-amateur” therapist, and her parents, are mostly substanceless. Unquestioned, introspection-free positivity around Julia’s instant lesbianism is coupled with strong negativity about well-negotiated polyamory, and the story arc ties nonmonogamy tightly to Sam’s abusive behavior and the collapse of Sam and Julia’s relationship. This story may arouse and amuse straight and monogamous readers looking for a window onto other lives, but queer and polyamorous readers are likely to be deeply unimpressed. Agent: Sally Wofford-Girand, Union Literary.

March 15, 2019
In Davies' exceedingly charming debut, a romantically frustrated 20-something Londoner realizes maybe the problem isn't her--maybe the problem is men.It's been three years since Julia has had sex herself, although she is frequently privy to sex--adjacent to sex, subjected to sex--living with her best friend, Alice, and Alice's boyfriend in a flat with unfortunately thin walls. But her own sex life has been, to date, lackluster. "I'd always preferred the idea of sex to sex itself," she muses. "The thing is, sex had never been particularly high on my list of priorities." Dance had been her priority, but then she was injured, and so, instead of the ballet career she'd dreamed of, she has an uninspiring government job, a very opinionated therapist, and a total lack of romantic intrigue. Until, at a cool warehouse party, she meets Jane. Sex is different with Jane; everything is different with Jane. Julia is overcome with ecstatic relief: She's a lesbian. "I felt like I belonged, at last, in the world of the sexually fulfilled," she declares. "Now I had a sense of purpose. I was going to find someone to be a lesbian with." And quickly, she does--not one of the women from her new queer swing-dance group (she immediately joins a queer swing-dance group), but Sam, an artist she meets at a club. But as their relationship intensifies, Sam's one-sided demands start to feel increasingly stifling--leaving Julia to define the kind of relationship she wants for herself. Davies recounts the progression of Julia and Sam's relationship in such detail, and with such focus, that it's occasionally exhausting, like listening to a friend obsess over the plodding minutiae of a fundamentally doomed relationship for years. (And who among us has not?) But Davies' writing is so breezy and effortless--and her characters so delightful--that to spend time in her world is a pleasure. Sweet but never saccharine; a literary rom-com about the importance of knowing yourself.

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April 1, 2019
After a long dry spell, some terribly "unsexy sex" with a man, and a sparks-flying encounter with a woman, Londoner Julia realizes that perhaps, after all, she's a lesbian. Suddenly everything makes sense, and her coming out is as joyful and untraumatic as a self-rupture can be. It's exhilarating to finally feel that she has a uniqueness to explore and wear proudly. She soon does both with Sam, a super-hot artist who specializes in nude portraits of women from a queer female gaze. Self-deprecating puppy dog Julia happily succumbs to assertive Sam's considerable charms in the bedroom and also, a little less happily, to her controlling behaviors outside of it. Can her intense sexual awakening and all-consuming love for Sam balance out her blinding jealousy over polyamorous Sam's longtime French (of course) girlfriend? Is she just being old fashioned? Surrounded by a crew of first-rate secondary characters, companionable Julia is a twentysomething heroine for today. Davies' pitch-perfect adult debut, a spiced-up companion to Camille Perri's When Katie Met Cassidy (2018), is equal parts sexy and introspective.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

June 1, 2019

DEBUT Davies's first novel is by turns funny and darkly serious as one young woman finds her sexual footing in a new world. Twentysomething Julia lives and works in London and struggles to figure out her dating life. She hasn't had sex in three years but has to listen, almost nightly, to her roommate and her boyfriend. Julia's in a rut and determined to change that. Her social explorations lead to a hookup with a woman and an epiphany. Perhaps all those encounters in her past weren't mediocre just because she hadn't met the right guy; perhaps she doesn't want a guy at all. Julia throws herself into her newfound life as a queer woman. But what starts as an exciting exploration of her own sexuality turns darker as she dives into the deep end with her first lesbian relationship. While Julia doesn't always make the right choices, readers will certainly understand them. VERDICT Touted as a "Bridget Jones for 2019," this might be more aptly compared to the television show Girls with its combination of humor and a frank exploration of contemporary sexuality. [See Prepub Alert, 12/17/18.]--Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2019

Disappointed with the men in her life and her going-nowhere job, London-based Julia meets a conceptual artist at a party who happens to be a woman, and her sexual reorientation starts fast. But eventually she wonders whether life with lesbian lover Sam is any freer. An erotic debut getting notice; with a 50,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.