Topics of Conversation by Miranda Popkey BOTM hardcover

Topics of Conversation is a 2020 debut novel by Miranda Popkey. Composed almost entirely of dialogue, the 224-page book spans roughly twenty years in the life of an unnamed narrator, exploring complex female relationships, desire, shame, and self-sabotage.  Book Overview & Structure  Format: Told through a series of chronological conversations and vignettes.  Setting: Moves across different locations and years, beginning in coastal Italy and shifting through various phases of the narrator’s adult life  Length: 224 pages. Publication: Released in January 2020 by Alfred A. Knopf / Serpent's Tail.  Core Themes  Womanhood and Identity: Examines how women try on different social roles (student, wife, mother, single parent) and struggle to define their own experiences.  Eroticism and Power: Investigates sex, desire, disgust, and the psychological weight of violence or boundary-crossing.  Guilt and Rage: Explores internal emotional landscapes, dealing heavily with self-loathing, envy, and loneliness.