If you could see yourself as others see you, would you know who you really are?

The novel Astra is an excellent debut that reveals the different faces of one mysterious woman, seen through the eyes of ten people she meets throughout her life.

After a childhood spent with an apathetic dreamer father in a rural commune in a remote part of British Columbia, Astra Brine leaves for Calgary, where she must struggle to find her own way. Her life becomes a study of the fine line between addiction and love, need and desire. Her steps cross with other people - these encounters are often short, but always intense - who alternately want to save her, control her, change her, embody her skin or escape from her. There is a childhood friend who is frightened by Astra's unpredictable behavior; a stranger who saves her from a life on the streets, but she has to deal with her own demons; a mother who hires Astra as an au-pair at a time when her marriage is falling apart; a man who marries her after a very brief acquaintance... All these encounters reveal uncomfortable but important truths about who we are and what we desire.

While Astra herself remains a fleeting yet captivating axis around which the individual chapters revolve, her story reminds us of the profound impact an individual can have on the people around them, and the power struggles that play out in all of our relationships, even the most intimate. This beautifully constructed and revealing novel explores what we are willing to give to others and what we take from them, and how well we even know the people we love most.

The book was included in the Giller Prize longlist for 2021.