FICTION

BONE TRUTH by Ann Finger (Coffee House Press: $11.95; 256 pp.) There is extreme pleasure in reading fiction that makes you truly see life through another person’s eyes, a person who is strange, likable and difficult. If the writing is strong enough, it’s possible to temporarily abandon your own world-view for theirs. Ann Finger’s first novel, “Bone Truth,” is such a book.

When the narrator, Elizabeth Etters, discovers she is pregnant, a tough decision needs to be made. For starters, she has only been dating the father for a few months, and is just beginning to gain recognition as a photographer. In addition, Elizabeth is nowhere near coming to terms with her own abusive childhood, is disabled by polio and knows nothing about babies.

Much of “Bone Truth” is concerned with Elizabeth’s ideas about her own body, as well as bodies in general. “Later on (after numerous surgeries) I will tell myself that I am not this lumpy sack, this thing I use to lug my real self around. I am this mind, this pure, pure mind, which someday will burn blue and astonish.”

Finger is an accomplished writer, however, there are problems that leech power from this wonderful book. Although Elizabeth’s boyfriend, Matt, is thoughtfully drawn, he is so perfect in every way that if this man really existed, people would riot in the street to have him in their lives. A much deeper problem is pacing. Finger spends much too much time on the lives of the narrator’s parents which is a frustrating distraction from the main plot. Still, “Bone Truth” is an excellent book.