SCALZO

It traverses the territory surrounding desire, love, grief, and friendship while acknowledging the walls, locked gates, and distances that make accessing the heart of any of them so difficult. Every paradise must have a border. And yet Scalzo’s masterpiece is compassionate to the seekers lost in that fringe of scrub—and generous. There are revelations to be found in the tough but gloriously surviving weeds, and Scalzo allows her characters to discover them, as well as themselves. She lets her characters grow. I loved American Arcadia. At once sweeping and searingly intimate, it’s a stunning achievement.