ORIGIN STORY

Novel explores the idea of an enigmatic "genius" artist who doesn't feel beholden to normal expectations of behaviour.

- TINA SHAW

In an interview, the avant-garde artist known as X says, "I do not always believe it is morally wrong to act in a cruel manner, so long as you accept the burden of accurately calculating whether the object of one's cruelty could stand to benefit from pain more than from pleasure." The statement seems to encapsulate the modus operandi of this subject of the fictional "biography" written by her fictional widow, CM Lucca.

Lacey is the author of four previous books that often explore identity, such as the wonderful Pew, about a person of no specific race or gender who appears in a small religious community.