Nudes

Joanna Górecka

Mozart had written three symphonies before the age of seventeen. When I turned seventeen my mouth had just started kissing people instead of doors, spoons, and that tense meaty part between the thumb and the index finger. Other than that, I hadn’t experienced anything at all, I’m just grinding marrow, sticky fingers, and eager unreason that itches and stings inside my belly.

Seventeen-year-old Ester has a dead cat in the freezer and a mom who sometimes gets up during the night to boil her makeup. She is suffering through high school with the help of her best friend Natalie and their love for Dorothy Parker’s writing. Tired parties with guys in beanies and girls named Emma, all of them. But then a new teacher starts, Ivar Lind. He does boxing in his free time, has started a band, seen Angkor Wat, and published a collection of poetry. Ester wants to dislike him, but can’t help picking up his lost shirt button and put it under her pillow. One thing leads to another, and Dorothy Parker plays a decisive role in Ester’s drama.
With a sparkling language and drastic humor, Joanna Górecka writes about teen longing for breaking boundaries and becoming one’s own person, sometimes through someone else.

Joanna Górecka is a journalist and screenwriter. She is a columnist for Göteborgs-Posten and produces for P3 Dokumentär. This is her first novel.