That's all I know A novel

A young woman longs for a new life outside of her rural Spanish town in the arresting English-language debut from Levi. Lea, 19, has spent the past year preparing for the apocalypse that her town's mayor had claimed would arrive by now. It's New Year's Day, 2013, and when she meets a man passing through town whose dog has just wandered into the nearby forest, she warns him against entering, claiming that "people who go into the forest never come out." She proceeds to tell him the story of her life, detailing how she's helped her mother care for her younger sister, Nora, who can't speak or move, and recounting their fruit-picker father's accidental death on the job. When a family arrives from the city in early 2012, Lea gets the itch to leave for bigger things, and near the end of the year, Nora begins acting strangely, trying to bite her tongue off and refusing to eat, prompting Lea to take drastic action. The cruel depictions of "empty-headed" Nora can be tough to stomach, but for the most part Levi's frank and acerbic prose works to the book's advantage, highlighting the story's absurd nature and brutal action. This eerie tale is worth a look. Agent: Elianna Kan, Regal Hoffman & Assoc. (May)

A young woman recounts the strange story of her life at the edge of a forest. What does it mean for the world to end? Spanish author Levi's novel takes up that question both literally and figuratively. Largely structured as 19-year-old narrator Little Lea's tale of her life, which she's recounting to a man in search of his lost dog, this novel reckons with the appeal and dangers of home. "I don't know how it is where you're from, sir, but when you escape from here, you don't return," Little Lea explains to her partner in conversation. She's talking about the remote town in which she grew up, as well as the dangers that lurk in the surrounding forest. This idea of abandonment as deeply final echoes the apocalyptic imagery that runs throughout the book and the outright belief among some characters that the world is about to end. In some ways, Levi's novel is a familiar coming-of-age tale, navigating Little Lea's troubled relationship with her family, marijuana-fueled contemplation, and infatuation with Javier, an old friend. Eventually, Little Lea reveals that her older sister Nora's disabilities have upset a balance within the family: "With Nora and her damaged brain, my mother learned that life can be cruel and that prevented her happiness from developing." In MacSweeney's translation, Little Lea's voice--at once casual and haunted--emerges as a compelling element, both casual and occasionally jarring, as when Little Lea's struggles with her sister culminate in an image both visually stunning and deeply transgressive. Much like the forest that surrounds the setting here, this is a novel capable of lethal shocks and bold transfigurations. An unconventional and memorable coming-of-age story. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.