Everything Here is Beautiful

by Mira T. Lee
July 8-Aug 5, 2018


If it's possible, this is a story of mental illness told in a beautiful, personal way. Beautiful because of the slow pace with a frantic undertone, and personal because the author succeeds in describing Lucia's illness in a way that actually makes sense. To Lucia, she is rational. To the reader, we see both sides – Lucia's, which explains away the demons – and Miranda's, which rationalizes the treatment of the illness.

“It seems silly, right? To be crying when everything's fine?
Well, why not, I figure, because if pain and tears were correlated, surely we would've all drowned by now.”

I need to stress the push and pull feeling of how the story is told. On one hand it's a gradual reveal, almost to the point of impatience (i.e., move it along). On the other, there's a sense of urgency to strike before more damage can be done. A good character-driven, family story is right up my alley, and for four, very different people, each one had a thoroughly-told narrative.

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