Cecilia by K-Ming Chang: A Vivid Exploration of Queer Desire and Obsession
American-Taiwanese author K-Ming Chang presents "Cecilia," a novella exploring themes of queer love, sexual awakening, and intimate obsession. Narrated by 24-year-old Seven, a cleaner at a chiropractor's office, the story unfolds in an atmosphere thick with sensuality and disorientation.
Seven works mostly alone, encountering the chiropractor and receptionist only occasionally. Her duties, described in visceral detail, include refilling soap dispensers and gathering hair from the patients. In this dreary setting, Seven reconnects with Cecilia, a childhood friend and the object of her ongoing obsession.
Their chance meeting leads to a sequence of memories and stories from their shared past, marked by Seven's uncontrollable mixture of attraction and repulsion towards Cecilia. This relationship reaches a climax of shame as their tangled emotions are laid bare.
K-Ming Chang has previously been recognized by the National Book Foundation as a "5 Under 35" honoree for her debut novel "Bestiary." "Cecilia" follows her notable works "Bone House," "Gods of Want," and "Organ Meats," which together she terms a "mythic triptych."
In "Cecilia," Chang intertwines myths, some unique to the characters' friendship and others inherited from their families. These tales offer a lens through which the characters attempt to understand their bodies and identities. Chang's narrative style, rich with repulsive yet creative imagery, invites readers into an uncanny world where familiar experiences are made to feel strange and new.