Barbara the Slut and Other People

Starred review from April 20, 2015
Holmes presents 10 first-person narratives in this collection, an eminently readable debut from a fresh voice. Use of the m wordâMillennialâis inevitable when describing these stories, as they're filled with young people taking stock of their surroundings with shrugs and resigned sighs at their own diminished expectations. A lab tech at an STD clinic, who is stalling in applying to grad school ("I was thinking I might want to study public health, but I was also thinking I might want to move to the forest and eat berries and mushrooms and hibernate with the bears in the winter"), must act as an unlikely emissary for an unusual patient. A recent law school grad who can't bring herself to practice law, a career path bankrolled by her father, and can't "think of anything that I actually wanted to do" begins working in a sex-toy store. The most ambitious character is the titular Barbara, who is biding her time until she can get to Princeton, trying to persevere in an environment that still punishes her for having both a sex life and a clear-eyed distrust of her high school sexual partners. Holmes writes with ease and humor: there's an underpants scheme, an extreme germaphobe, and even a story from the perspective of a dog. Though there's too much sameness in these stories (the protagonists are mostly interchangeable), it never diminishes the extent of their perception, wit, and liveliness. A wonderful debut. Agent: Duvall Osteen, the Aragi Agency.

Starred review from June 1, 2015
This sharp, sensitive debut story collection introduces us to a parade of people (and one dog) grasping their ways through complex relationships with family, friends, lovers, strangers, and, of course, themselves. Don't let the title put you off. Holmes' unwaveringly perceptive debut collection of short stories about young people (mostly women and girls but also the occasional man and beast) at various stages of their early lives-middle school, high school, college, and beyond-is eminently sympathetic, insightful, and revealing, never regarding its characters with ridicule or derision, always with respect and compassion. The general narrative outlines may sound familiar-a young girl tries to find friends and fit in at a new school, a college grad parses her plans and loyalties as she seeks her place in the world-but the details bring dimension and color, making the characters and their stories pop. Lala, the protagonist of "How Am I Supposed to Talk to You?" travels from California to Mexico in hopes of bridging the gulf that separates her from a mother who serially disappoints her. In "Weekend with Beth, Kelly, Muscle, and Pammy," the only story told from a guy's perspective, a feckless, clueless, but not entirely unsympathetic dude is paid a visit by an old college roommate and wonders why, despite his persistent loneliness, he does not want to sleep with her. The title character in "Barbara the Slut," meanwhile, is, yes, a victim of bullying but also a young woman dedicated to her autistic brother and actively shaping her own destiny, deciding whom to sleep with and how often before she decamps for her freshman year at Princeton. The people limned here are people we know. They may even be the people we are. A first-rate first collection from a young writer you'll want to hear more from.

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July 1, 2015
Holmes' debut short story collection features young adults struggling to find their way through tenuous relationships and hard realities. The notable How Am I Supposed to Talk to You? follows Lala as she journeys to Mexico to visit her estranged mother for the first time in three years. Lala's mission is twofold: to drop off luxury underwear that her mother can resell for a profit, and to come out as gay. Once the two are reunited, however, Lala finds her resolve challenged. In Desert Hearts, an ambivalent law-school graduate moves with her workhorse fiance to San Francisco, where she soon finds herself posing as a lesbian and selling sex toys. In the topical Barbara the Slut, Holmes portrays the titular high-school student, relentlessly bullied for her sexual proclivity, as she waits to hear whether she has been accepted at Princeton. In the wry My Humans, a dog follows the rocky ups and downs of her owners' relationship. Holmes' 10 tales smartly explore her characters' varied internalizations and vulnerabilities in light of the heavy influence of appearances and unwise attachments.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

March 1, 2015

A Granta 2014 New Voice, Holmes explores a range of intriguing scenarios in this first collection. The title story, for instance, concerns a high school senior headed for Princeton who's dealing with an autistic brother and a passion for sex that makes her out-there, slut-shaming school environment even more difficult to negotiate. Elsewhere, women defy fathers and lovers to do the unexpected.

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