“Mason-Black’s prose sparkles with poetic beauty as Holi engages in introspective musings about collective mourning and how individual healing is possible only in community… Beautifully written and powerfully uplifting.”
—Kirkus [starred review]
“Sometimes the Girl is a touching coming-of-age novel about healing and connection. Holi’s story models radical empathy, and its conclusion acknowledges that language is the only tool that may bridge the gap between people who seek to understand each other.“
—Foreward Reviews [starred review]
“Mason-Black’s writing, expressed through Holi’s first-person narration, is original and striking in its depth, putting a thoughtful spotlight on Holi and the people around her. An appealing and engrossing work.”
—Booklist
“With gorgeous prose and a setting so real you can smell the boxes in Elsie’s attic, Jennifer Mason-Black crafts a story that’s part-mystery and part-odyssey. Through her complicated, layered relationship with Elsie, Holi unboxes secrets, deep wounds, and a longing for the kind of healing that comes with human connection.”
—Carrie Firestone, author of The First Rule of Climate Club and Dress Coded
“Sometimes the Girl is a book so powerful and tender that you just want to hold it close, knowing it will help you weather your own hard times. With enormous skill, Jennifer Mason-Black crosses the generation gap to plumb the pain—and poetry and transcendence— that unite two women writers of two wildly different eras. This is a metafiction every bit as addictive as the bestselling novel it’s about.”
—Margot Harrison, author of Only She Came Back
“Mason-Black never shies away from the hard questions and harder answers in this devastating, engrossing puzzle of a story. I can’t stop thinking about it.”
—Mary McCoy, author of I, Claudia and Indestructible Object
