The Shape of Things to Come

Description

Isabelle, a woman in her thirties without any of the trappings of a grown-up life, has just been fired from her job at a San Francisco phone company. Returning to the midwestern suburb of her childhood, Standardsville, Illinois, she contends with her dating single mother, a neighbor who once appeared on The Honeymooners, and an ex-boyfriend. She also becomes a mystery shopper for a temp agency, posing as a variety of potential tenants for newly built suburban communities to access their exclusive services.

Enchanted by the possiblities of disguise, Isabelle spins a web of lies that keeps the world at a distance until she unearths long-kept secrets that force her to rethink everything she thought she knew.

“Casey is a stand-up philosopher posing vexing questions about human existence. She’s funny, inventive…dazzling narrative dare.” “Complex, mature and compelling.” “Maud Casey’s accomplished first novel, takes up with the endearingly subversive Isabelle . . . “A startling debut. [Casey’s] fresh voice emerges like a song that’s bound to be a hit.” “Isabelle is so vivacious that even though she’s utterly confused about her future, we know it’ll turn out just fine.” “Casey is very good at creating characters who are torn between the strong emotions they experience . . . ” “Casey deftly writes about the struggle out of the tomb, the restoration of sanity, the search for a small peace. “Full of lovely sentences, empathetic characters. This story is as engaging and scintillating as one told by a best friend. “Isabelle is a millennial treasure. The journey from child to woman . . . is poignant and funny.”. “This is a wonderful account of our need to both invent and reinvent ourselves. A deft and generous book.