The Last Language

In the wild and witty latest from duBois (The Spectators), a speech therapist recounts her sexual relationship with a disabled client. Like Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert, duBois’s narrator is unrepentant. Angela, 27, strives to gain the reader’s sympathy by beginning with the story of her husband’s unexpected death. She’s pregnant at the time, and after having a miscarriage, she’s asked to take a leave from her PhD program at Harvard. In need of a job, Angela begins working at an experimental therapy center aimed at helping nonspeaking clients communicate using a typewriter-like device (or, as Angela describes it, “an overgrown graphing calculator”). She is sent to work with Sam, who at 28 has not spoken since he was a toddler. Resting her hands on his, Angela quickly gets Sam typing, and he expresses himself with intelligence, going so far as to craft an essay on Chekhov. A secret romance develops between Angela and Sam, but questions arise regarding the true author of Sam’s writing. DuBois walks the high wire with Angela’s audacious and unreliable narration, leaving room for readers to wonder how much of Angela’s telling is true and to what degree she’s manipulated Sam. This clever novel lingers long after the final page. Agent: Henry Dunow, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency. (Oct.)