One Sunday morning, in a small religious and conservative town in the American South, a family find a person of indeterminate race, gender and age asleep on their pew in church. As they refuse to answer any questions about their identity, the town ends up calling them Pew, and they go to live with the family who found them - out of good Christian charity.

But the family's patience soon begins to wear thin, as Pew remains an enigma. They look different to different people, and the frustration the townspeople feel at not being able to fit Pew into their prescribed boxes is palpable. Pew is shuttled around the town, foisted on various people in turns, and in the face of Pew's silence they themselves open up. Pew becomes a sounding board for the confessions of the town, revealing secrets and thoughts they have likely kept under wraps for years. I've seen a couple of reviews (including @dsweet_library's) say this is a similar structure to Outline by Rachel Cusk, and now I want to read that book even more!

If that wasn't a delicious enough premise, the threat of the Festival hangs over the town as well as Pew's arrival. I won't give anything away about that because it's best to read and find out for yourself, but I wasn't expecting it and it made me love the book even harder. It's dark without being in-your-face, toeing the line of sinister.

Lacey asks a lot of questions within this compact little novel, all of them pertinent to today's world. The obsessive need to label people according to societal constructs, prejudice, religion... All of it explored in a beautiful prose that is a delight to read.

I also got Lanny vibes towards the end, if you've read both let me know if you did too! I would not compare it to Lanny, just the vibes, okay, as well as mega Shirley Jackson vibes! All the vibes, and all of them excellent. Truly a standout read for me!