Tennis Lessons by Susannah Dickey

You never say the right thing. You’re a disappointment to everyone. You’re a far cry from beautiful – and your thoughts are ugly too. You seem bound to fail, bound to break. But you know what it is to laugh with your best friend, to feel the first tentative tingles of attraction, to take exquisite pleasure in the affront of your unruly body. You just need to find your place. Acutely observed and achingly honest, this is the story of a girl becoming a woman and striving to find a place in a world that appears not to have one for her. From disastrous dates to dead pets, from crashed cars to ingrowing toenails, TENNIS LESSONS is an unflinching and compassionate portrait of a spirited misfit and her rocky route to something like happiness.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Susannah Dickey is from Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland. She is the author of two poetry pamphlets, I had some very slight concerns (2017) and genuine human values (2018). Her poetry has been published in Ambit, The White Review, Poetry Ireland Review and Magma, amongst others. In 2018 she was shortlisted for The White Review short story prize, and in 2017 she was the winner of the inaugural Verve Poetry Festival.

Review

I totally fell in love with this book. It was so relatable as a coming of age story. Darkly funny, self-deprecating, it show such empathy and it’s charming in its own weird way.

I think books like this are showing the true side of sexuality and sexual experiences for this generation. It’s not all stars and sighs of pleasure. It’s fumbling in alleys and not really concerned with pleasure. It can be disappointing. It can be awkward. It can also just be plain wrong! I really felt for them all. The book also brought up issues like #metoo and the availability of an abortion in Northern Ireland.

It was around the same age of that I had my mental break as the main character. I found that section of the book very powerful. It showed such great empathy and understanding of mental health. I’m not going to get into stuff here but even her school experience resembled mine when it comes to friends.

I actually just plain and simple loved this book. Go buy it now!