Susan Finlay: My Other Spruce and Maple Self

June 2016, and world-famous cellist and former “sexiest classical musician” Allegra Le Clef is suffering from a compound wrist fracture. Europe also crumbles…

From her initial accident in London, to the economic crisis in Athens, to trying and failing to patch things up with her husband, Albion, in Amsterdam Allegra traverses the continent to the accompaniment of a Late Romantic soundtrack. When not sending emails to a BDSM obsessed catfish she attempts to ease her conscience by volunteering at a refugee centre known for its Syrian cuisine, yet remains oblivious to the numerous other personal and political disasters that are looming.

Shocking and camp—and shockingly camp—‘My Other Spruce and Maple Self’ is nevertheless a profoundly sad book about a woman unable to come to terms with her own declining status, as well as that of the West.