“Naked Girl is a story of the enduring power of love in a family of lunatics,” says Janna Brooke Wallack of her debut novel, a poignant piece of literary fiction. Though not autobiographical, it reads like a memoir. Wallack’s enduring voice and fresh vision evoke the storytelling of masterful novelists like Ann Patchett, Kristin Hannah, and Zadie Smith. Naked Girl is a captivating and moving story that explores the dysfunction of a family, the struggles of 'fitting in' and the power of hope, humor, and imperfect love.
Growing up motherless in 1980's Miami Beach, Sienna and her little brother Siddhartha get by with their charismatic and capricious father, Jackson Jones. When a small windfall relocates them to a condemned mansion on the water, the siblings are forbidden traditional schooling and left to live off the land. As Jackson uses their new home to create a communal cult, the siblings are forced to raise themselves in a carefree, chaotic oasis. Living amidst the vagrant seekers who take up residence in Jackson's utopia, Sienna and Siddhartha strive to protect their unconventional family.
Janna Brooke Wallack writes with warmth, compassion and comic brilliance in Naked Girl, an enthralling debut novel brimming with the adventure, resilience, humor and heartbreak of growing up on the fringe of decency and longing for the unattainable comfort of home.
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