Practice: A Novel

An NPR and Literary Hub Best Book of the Year

An astonishing first novel about a day in the life of a young student who experiences her thoughts, fantasies, and wishes as she writes about—or tries to write about—Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Six o’clock in the morning, Sunday, at the worn-out end of January.

In a small room, cold and dim and quiet, an undergraduate student works on an essay about Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Annabel has a meticulously planned routine ...