Photograph by Graham Lott
THE REST OF US
“In her debut novel, the vastly talented and wise beyond her years Jessica Lott crafts a beautifully written and clear-eyed portrait of the artist as a young woman…while tackling the complicated issues of female identity and ambition and the need to make art and feel known.” —Elissa Schappell, author of Blueprints for Building Better Girls
“Lott’s characterization, dialogue, and affection for her characters are winning…Accomplished debut fiction.” —Kirkus Reviews,“11 Debut Novels We Love”
“A finely wrought story, insightfully detailing the anguish of intense love and the struggles of an aspiring artist.” —Publisher’s Weekly
“A well-written, deeply satisfying read, Lott’s story is a thoughtful exploration of what it means to bring our dreams to life, and an important reminder of the courage it takes to do so.” —Booklist
“An unapologetically feminist portrait of a young female artist struggling to make her way…Lott portrays an unusually equitable and mutually beneficial May-December romance, one that will unexpectedly touch and inspire readers.” —BookReporter
"The Rest of Us deftly illuminates not only the loneliness of the city but also the struggles we all face in transplanting the fantasies of our youth into our adult realities." — Brigid Pasulka, author of The Sun and Other Stars
“[A] heartbreaking yet inspiring debut novel.” — Library Review
“One of the most refreshingly mature portrayals of love in recent memory.” —Bustle
“Lott’s writing is lovely and lyrical, and her themes of the place of art, the changing ways we love and the people we hold close over time lend texture to an intelligent and ambitious literary debut.” — Shelf Awareness
“[A] story that feels fresh and consistently surprising....” —Bookreporter.com
“Although The Rest of Us is about art, love, and life, it is also about longing and belonging. Jessica writes with tremendous skill and sophistication, and the novel is truly a pleasure to read.” —Ha Jin, author of Waiting and War Trash
“Jessica Lott’s debut is a heartbreaking work of staggering insights written in admirably crystalline prose. An intelligently rendered May-September story of love, longing, and obsession, The Rest of Us recalls both Philip Roth’s The Dying Animal and Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding, but with a compassion, a point of view, and an attention to detail that are all Lott’s own.” —Adam Langer, author of Crossing California and The Thieves of Manhattan
“The Rest of Us is a sharply observant and sexy debut about love, art, feminism, and the search for identity. It’s also a valentine to New York, a city whose every landscape here offers memories of the past and opportunities for the future.”— Enid Shomer, author of The Twelve Rooms of the Nile