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So, here we are… A new literary-fiction novel – though, hey, what’s so “novel” about a novel? The Perfect Gray is a project I began almost as an exercise. The idea came soon after I wrote the post on concept fiction. Quite frankly, I had absolutely no plan in mind regarding plot or characters, which of course is the whole point behind concept fiction.

At 70,000 words, The Perfect Gray is within the usual range of literary fiction word counts, yet I still find it a bit surprising how little it took me to complete it – about 5 weeks.

What is it about? I’ll let one of the character in The Perfect Gray to answer that:

It’s always hard for writers to tell you what their book is about. But I think you’ll like it.

The Perfect Gray: the Basics

Let me put it this way: If you’ve read and liked any of my novels published in the past 3-4 years, then you’re going to love The Perfect Gray.

One differing detail compared to most of my previous novels is that it features a female protagonist, fact which somewhat tilts the balance in terms of thematic elements. Although the narrative touches upon universal issues, it does so from a woman’s perspective, which precisely helps bring them up to the surface.

If you want a blurb, here it is.

“There is something you could do for me,” he says, and in this moment, of this deceptively mundane afternoon, I can read the future and see that this man will destroy my life as I know it.

Hecate, trying to mend her relationship with her mother while recovering from a past trauma, leads a solitary existence shared only with her pet chameleon, Apollo. But a chance encounter with a younger man will throw her into a world where conflicts are necessary, pleasing others is secondary, and ethics are negotiable.

In the end, it’s typical literary fiction: You can expect deep introspection, impossible dilemmas, unanswerable human issues, all peppered with intricate symbolism.

The Perfect Gray: Three Random Paragraphs

Originally, I intended to give you the first three paragraphs here, but instead, here are three random paragraphs, one from each part of the book:

The sun has fallen under the world now – how long have we been here? – and the youthful face appears a little less masculine, a bit more lunar. Even his smile has acquired some atypical contours, drab and sluggish. It’s still bedazzling, it makes me feel wretched and blissful at the same time, but the intensity has been replaced by the dejected, saturnine realization that things never quite work out as you would’ve wanted them to. There seems to be some fundamental flaw in the fabric of this game: The man evidently lacks the arrogance and stupid optimism required to try any harder, which both makes him interesting to me and assures that the mating ritual is doomed to fail. In any case, I won’t lower myself to show any interest – not knowing whether I’m attracted (not to mention attractive) makes it even harder.
[…]
“There you go,” I say and offer him a cup, sitting next to him. He accepts it without saying anything, not a thanks, not a mm-hmm, not even a nod. I start to feel infuriated by all this, cursing my gullibility, thinking I’ve been taken for a ride. Maybe it’s all part of a prank, a dare, or – at best – a social experiment. Maybe the man is just a sociology researcher wanting to see how I would react to a scenario like the one he presented. And yet, as if he read my mind, he tries his ice cream and then looks at me. His eyes, reflecting the orange tints of the setting sun, communicate serenity – the turbulent kind, one encountered in Renaissance paintings of the Mediterranean. The moment stretches, it becomes unthinkably long, like a perpetual melody played on a piano.
[…]
I stand before the building, looking at it the way one observes the Ozymandian relics of a lost civilization. In all fairness, there’s absolutely nothing special or noteworthy about the edifice in aesthetic terms; it’s a boring gray apartment building, similar to mine and countless others. It’s the metaphysical aspects involved that make me interested. I think of all the families living behind these identical empty walls; the lonely people trying to cry their solitude away, the women telling themselves it’ll get better, he’s just stressed.

Where to Get

Like all my books, The Perfect Gray is free for those who want it.

Most of my novels are available as an immediate free download – simply visit the Fiction page on the main site. And remember, you can also just email me and ask for a free, no-strings-attached (e.g. review etc.) digital copy of any of my books.

Alternatively, if you expressly want to pay for it, you can get it on Amazon.

And here’s a review of The Perfect Gray – here on Home for Fiction!

Interested in music renderings of books? Here’s a post explaining the reasons behind my composing some music for The Perfect Gray.

Acknowledgments

The Perfect Gray, like everything else I write, is dedicated to Titta, my first and best reader.

I’d like to extend my gratitude to my two friends, Igor da Silva Livramento and Francis Mont, who basically stopped everything they were doing to read The Perfect Gray and provide insights.

Also many thanks to Nicholas Bouchard, who agreed to read an early copy.