'A wise, intimate tale that is by turns joyful, sorrowful and explicit' Observer
'The author delves deep into Lottie's psyche, shying away from nothing, to create a rounded and gripping portrait of a woman on the edge of change' Daily Mail
Lottie Kristin is independent from the start. Born in the middle of the century to a middle-class family in the very middle of America, Lottie is set apart by her smarts and sensuality. A girl who'd rather carry out dissections on a snowy back porch than join her family for Christmas dinner is a strange and exotic artifact in the town of Sleeping Bay.
But by her early twenties, Lottie finds herself trapped in a marriage gone stale, with a daughter she adores but whose existence jeopardizes her place in the lab and her dream of becoming a scientist. How can a young woman make her way in a world determined to contain her brilliance, her will, and her longing to live?
Bravely and wisely written, Artifact is an intimate and propulsive portrait of a whole woman, a celebration of her refusal to be defined by others' imaginations, and a meditation on the glorious chaos of biological life.
Genre: Literary Fiction
'The author delves deep into Lottie's psyche, shying away from nothing, to create a rounded and gripping portrait of a woman on the edge of change' Daily Mail
Lottie Kristin is independent from the start. Born in the middle of the century to a middle-class family in the very middle of America, Lottie is set apart by her smarts and sensuality. A girl who'd rather carry out dissections on a snowy back porch than join her family for Christmas dinner is a strange and exotic artifact in the town of Sleeping Bay.
But by her early twenties, Lottie finds herself trapped in a marriage gone stale, with a daughter she adores but whose existence jeopardizes her place in the lab and her dream of becoming a scientist. How can a young woman make her way in a world determined to contain her brilliance, her will, and her longing to live?
Bravely and wisely written, Artifact is an intimate and propulsive portrait of a whole woman, a celebration of her refusal to be defined by others' imaginations, and a meditation on the glorious chaos of biological life.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"This is the story of a dauntingly independent woman's compelling need to pursue the mysteries of life, including her own body. Lottie Kristin is many things: a wife, a mother, a cell biologist, and a woman willing to be discomfortingly candid. I hope Heyman writes a sequel so we can know what she does next." - Gail Godwin
"A heart-palpitating story of womanhood, ambition, and scientific inquiry. Lottie, the main character, longs for what we all long for: well-being, connection, and the ability to pursue our capacities, in a world that sometimes tries to dampen desire, particularly the wants of women. I found Artifact to be thrilling, funny, evocative, and true." - TaraShea Nesbit
"Artifact is an exquisite and deeply wise novel about a woman's coming of age as both a mother and a scientist. It's a bold, funny, brilliantly acute portrait of a person who pursues her intellectual ambitions in a world that treats her as unnatural for having them. Heyman's Lottie is stubbornly honest, unabashedly sexual and full of passionate love both for her family and her work. This is a thrilling book that-like all the best literature-leaves you feeling as if you've been through a major life experience and you're stronger for it." - Sandra Newman
"Artifact is a knock-out of a novel, with a hard-to-love, impossible-not-to-love heroine, Lottie, whose jittery journey from pregnant teenager to acknowledged scientist is related with beauty and honesty. Arlene Heyman digs deeply, so very deeply, into the complexities of sexual desire, young and not-so-young love, maternal devotion and impatience and searing guilt, the exhaustions and pleasures of a professional life, and the messy workings of a blended family. Readers will come to embrace Lottie in all her touching imperfections, and--like me--they may find themselves remembering and missing her when her story comes to an end." - Judith Viorst
"A heart-palpitating story of womanhood, ambition, and scientific inquiry. Lottie, the main character, longs for what we all long for: well-being, connection, and the ability to pursue our capacities, in a world that sometimes tries to dampen desire, particularly the wants of women. I found Artifact to be thrilling, funny, evocative, and true." - TaraShea Nesbit
"Artifact is an exquisite and deeply wise novel about a woman's coming of age as both a mother and a scientist. It's a bold, funny, brilliantly acute portrait of a person who pursues her intellectual ambitions in a world that treats her as unnatural for having them. Heyman's Lottie is stubbornly honest, unabashedly sexual and full of passionate love both for her family and her work. This is a thrilling book that-like all the best literature-leaves you feeling as if you've been through a major life experience and you're stronger for it." - Sandra Newman
"Artifact is a knock-out of a novel, with a hard-to-love, impossible-not-to-love heroine, Lottie, whose jittery journey from pregnant teenager to acknowledged scientist is related with beauty and honesty. Arlene Heyman digs deeply, so very deeply, into the complexities of sexual desire, young and not-so-young love, maternal devotion and impatience and searing guilt, the exhaustions and pleasures of a professional life, and the messy workings of a blended family. Readers will come to embrace Lottie in all her touching imperfections, and--like me--they may find themselves remembering and missing her when her story comes to an end." - Judith Viorst
Used availability for Arlene Heyman's Artifact