Atlantic County Library System

Uncovered review by Marina Smolens, ACLS Brigantine Branch

Sheila Heti’s Pure Colour is a philosophical endeavor that tells the story of Mira, a woman who goes to school to be an art critic. While attending, she meets a woman named Annie, to whom she is very drawn. The story centers around her relationship to Annie, as well as to her father, who dies during the course of the novel. After his death, Mira falls into a leaf, and is only able to escape it through Annie’s care for her. The title Pure Colour seems apt due to the fact that this book is built mostly on emotion, rather than an abundance of details or images. A green blob is seen on the cover of the book, and this book indeed “feels” very green and abstract. The abstractness of it allows space for the reader to imagine themselves in this world she has created (am I a bird, a fish, or a bear?), and green is the color of the heart, of love, of nature, of serenity. Heti captures all of this in a somewhat surreal fashion. Using Mira as our guide, we are led to question the meaning of art, culture, death, love, and our relationships to both people and things.