This was an interesting read. The unnamed protagonist wakes up in the pew of a church (implied to be in the rural American South) and is hustled into staying at a family's home. S/he is named Pew as s/he does not want to speak to them, and the story hinges on them trying to find out more about Pew. Pew's internal dialogue tells us that they do not know where they were before, and they feel disconnected from their body. They are not concerned by their identity, but everyone around them is obsessed. Under the guise of charity, most of the people around keep trying to intrude, trying to discover their name, age, sex and race. The church and a festival occuring that weekend loom ominously. It feels like a critique of religion and hypocrisy, and the difficulties people have with ambiguity. An atmospheric and interesting novel.

In a small insular and religious town, a stranger is found asleep in the church. The young person, of ambiguous gender and race, refuses to speak, and so is named ‘Pew’ after the place they were found.

That description hooked me enough to pick up Catherine Lacey’s Pew. As I began to read, I found to my delight that it also blends the influence of Carson McCullers and Jesse Ball with Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Ursula K Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas”.

This slim novel is sensitive and thoughtful, written in a simple, poetic but unfussy style. I enjoyed reading it quite a lot, as it follows Pew over the course of a week leading up to the town’s ‘Forgiveness Festival’. Pew’s refusal to speak allows the townspeople to open up in order to fill the void; one by one, they pour their stories out as Pew becomes almost a confessor. It is a terrific way to structure a novel.

As an homage, it is rather lovely and skilfully done. But by the end, I felt that it followed in the tradition of its predecessors a little too closely. Perhaps ironically, I wanted Pew to be its own unique self just a tiny bit more. 3.5 stars.

I've always been a quiet person. Even when I feel like I'm just as present and chatty as everyone else around me, people have always remarked on how quiet I am. But one of the interesting things this has allowed me to notice is how much people reveal about themselves - not so much in the content of their speech but the way they say things shows a lot about their preoccupations, insecurities, desires and fears. The very quiet narrator at the centre of Catherine Lacey's novel “Pew” is suddenly discovered sleeping in the church of a small American town and because the narrator is found on a pew the locals call this anonymous individual Pew. Even though we the readers are privy to Pew's thoughts we don't know any details about their past or identity. Pew is an adolescent of indeterminate age, indeterminate race and indeterminate gender because their appearance is so ambiguous. No matter how much the town's inhabitants enquire Pew barely ever responds and certainly provides no answers. As the community tries to determine what to do with this mysterious young vagabond, many individuals have private one-sided conversations with Pew where they confess their emotions and unintentionally reveal many of their prejudices. We follow Pew's many encounters over the course of a week leading up to a strange ritualised local ceremony.

This novel's simple premise grants a lot of space to ask teasing sociological and psychological questions about the nature of community and identity. What traits or qualities ensure our acceptance amongst a group of people? How far does our empathy extend to people who are unknown to us? To what degree do our unique characteristics define or inhibit who we are as individuals? Why do categorisations matter so much in our society? These all arise as the town's inhabitants either rigorously try to define exactly what Pew is or simply accept Pew for whoever they are. Within Pew's meditations there are even more overt philosophical queries raised about the nature of being: “Can only other people tell you what your body is, or is there a way that you can know something truer about it from the inside, something that cannot be seen or explained in words?” In this way, there's a fascinating tension built up over the course of the novel about the nature of subjective experience.

While I worried at first that this all might be too pondering I felt the story had a lightness to it in balancing Pew's observations with the local's italicized speeches. It's something like Alice's episodic adventures through Wonderland encountering many puzzlingly curious personalities along the way. So it gradually develops into a strangely captivatingly meditative journey. Of course, this story's construction also presents some troubling issues. Even though people are prone to saying more than they mean to when confronted with a very quiet individual, people aren't often quite as confessional as many in this novel who relate their deeply-personal histories and most intimate secrets to Pew. There's also a danger in these speeches made to Pew, some from bleeding-heart liberal types, that in laying out all their vulnerabilities and faults the author is mocking them more than taking their complex individual positions seriously. But I didn't ultimately feel that this was the case and I found myself compelled by the various connections between people in the town as we meet more and more along the way. The novel also builds larger mysteries about a wife stabbed in the eye, the racially-motivated murder of a child and other outstanding grievances/crimes which culminate in a bizarre festival.

There are teasing, cryptic elements to this story which create an underlying tension like The Wicker Man or Midsommar. But the novel's overarching construction and premise feels more like a cross between Rachel Cusk's “Outline”, Ali Smith's “The Accidental” and Elizabeth Strout's “Anything is Possible”. It's heartening to see this creative take on overly-politicised discussions about identity politics and immigration. Harold, a popular spokesman for the community, rants at one point: “I want justice to prevail, for the good side to win. And in order for that to happen we have got to know who people are. Who they really are.” This novel splits such simplistic ideas and notions open to reveal their dangerous limitations. It's clever how Lacey subtly challenges the reader to not make their own assumptions about Pew's identity as well. I found it to be a very meaningful and ultimately liberating journey to be inside the head of narrator who remains entirely undefined but not unknown.

I wish to thank Catherine Lacey, Granta Publications and NetGalley for the advanced copy of Pew in exchange for an honest review.

Set in the bible belt of America in the week preceding a religious based forgiveness festival, a homeless teenager is found asleep on a church floor. A family, parishioners take in the young person, Pew who rarely speaks and whose gender is unknown. Pew becomes a sounding board to many of the parishioners who have no problem speaking. Intolerances, racial bigotry and misogyny are expressed by the conservative congregation as they speak to Pew. Uniquely and interestingly the other teenagers in the community present as having greater intelligence an insight than the adults.

I enjoyed this short novel, it captivated my interest, the monologue of some of the adults I found challenging. Catherine Lacy writes with great skill, the character development is superb. I’ve added Catherine’s earlier novels; Answers and Nobody Is Ever Missing to my reading list.

Kind thanks to netgalley and Granta Publications for the arc.

This was an interesting novel. I thought it was very well written and as you read it, you realise that lots of themes are being addressed here such as race, religion and what happens when someone refuses to conform to societal norms.

Pew wakes up one day on a church bench on a Sunday and is taken in by a Christian family hoping to do good. Not learning whether Pew is male/female, black/white, missing etc., they become disappointed when they realise Pew won’t speak or reveal anything. As the week goes on, many different people in the community want to meet Pew. To fill the void, they end up speaking when Pew doesn’t answer, revealing much about themselves and those within the community. Surrounding this is a mysterious community festival which Pew is asked to attend at the end of the week.

I liked this novel. There was such an air of the unknown around Pew and it keeps you reading. I felt it ended quite abruptly and I, like much of the community, would have liked many of the questions addressed but overall a good read.

I found it difficult to get through this book, the voice was so weak and lacklustre I found no impetus to the story arc.

I just sort of followed this drone and then the book was over.

I really didn't enjoy this book after looking forward to it for so long.

This was an interesting read both in subject and in tone. I thought that Pew as a character was a weird mix of having no personality and a distinct personality, this made it so that the side characters were really allowed to shine and Pew was the right balance between them all. The writing was beautiful and I was always intrigued by the mystery and unexplained nature of Pew.

A fascinating, enthralling and well written story that is full of food for thought.
There're a lot of interesting themes in this weird and fascinating story and once I started I couldn't put it down.
It was an excellent read, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you Netgalley and Granta Publications for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Pew is an interesting story about Pew who got their name after a church pew they were found sleeping on.They were woken in the middle of Mass by a local family who later decided to help Pew and offered them a place in their home.
Pew is unusual because no one knows Pew's gender,race,real name-nothing.And Pew aren't keen on telling that to anyone-they rarely talk and don't actually know their name,gender or race themselves.
The local community wants to help Pew but when they don't cooperate the community decides to take it upon themselves to decide what to do with Pew without asking them anything which is what angered me most throughout the book.Pew was never asked whether they wanted help,whether they actually wanted to stay in strangers' homes and hang out with people they don't like.They were just taken from one place to another and expected to stay there and behave accordingly.
The community was accustomed to everyone who lived in town and didn't get new visitors or tourists often and really,when Pew appeared,they just wanted to keep them under control and control what they were doing in town while making it seem like kind help. If they were kind,they would've treated Pew nicer and would've cared more about them and their feelings. Instead,no one offered to have a nice conversation with them and Hilda even locked them in the attic so they wouldn't come down when it wasn't appropriate to everyone else.
The whole book was leading up to the Forgiveness Festival-a local ceremony for forgiveness of one's sins,no matter what they were. When the Festival came,and along with it the end of the book, I felt slightly disappointed. Maybe I didn't understand it the way it was intended but I feel like the ending wasn't enough.I would've liked to know what happened to Pew after the ceremony and sadly,I didn't get that closure.

3.5* but I was leaning more toward 3*

Homeless and sleeping in an empty church in the US South, Pew is woken mid-service by the family whose seat they are sleeping on. The family - out of Christian charity - take Pew in and name them after where they were found. Pew does not speak to them, does not tell them -- or does not know -- their name, age, gender, or colour. The family are wary of Pew, but tell them stories and secrets, take them to a doctor, try to find out who Pew is, and where they have come from.

As the week goes on, Hilda and Steven get tired of living with their suspicions, and farm Pew out to various friends and neighbours. Pew listens to all of them, passing no judgement, never speaking. Everyone who speaks to Pew has an opinion on what should be done, or on what is the right thing, in the lead up to the towns Forgiveness Festival, which it seems Pew has arrived just in time for.

I *loved* this novel, and sped through it. It's dedicated to Jesse Ball, and has shadows of his most recent novel, The Diver's Game, most obviously in the festival buildup, but also in the small-town community and the cruelty at its centre. Really excellently done.

Out in early May - thank you to @netgalley and @grantabooks for the review copy!

How much of an identity is defined by what other people believe of you? How much is defined by what you believe of yourself? Pew is an compelling little novel with a timely regard for questions of self and community.

Our narrator of indeterminate age, gender, and race, with no memory of their past, no name, and very little speech, wakes on a church bench. Nicknamed ‘Pew’, they’re taken in by the residents of a small religious town. In the face of such an anonymous listener, some people find themselves spilling their long-held secrets, whereas others begin to feel anxious about an interloper in their midst. And tensions are running high in the lead up to their annual 'Forgiveness Festival'.

Compulsive, intense, enigmatic, its interactions read like riddles and characters are ciphers to be decoded. I loved the ambiguities and contradictions that emerge as Pew gets acquainted with the town's residents, and raced through from cover to cover in under 24 hours. Delightful!

I enjoyed this more than i thought i would, Catherine Lacey has a beautiful writing style and the ability to tell a compelling story. a four star, i am excited to pick up more

Pew wakes up in the pew of a church, with no memory of how he/she got there, or any memory of anything about themselves. Pew is taken in by Steven and Hilda, and named after the church pew in which they were found.

Throughout the novel, Pew rarely utters a word, despite the best efforts of those around her/him. Instead, those around Pew find themselves talking about their own past. The neighbours tell Pew about many things. They talk about their regrets, their desires and things that they wish they had done differently. They reveal their biases and flaws.

Pew is able to see that, despite the ideal that every member of society holds themselves up to, none of them is perfect. But Pew also recognises that this is not a bad thing. It is much worse, the reader realises, that these members of society pretend to be something they’re not. Their reluctance to be judged by their peers ensures that they are willing to do almost anything to maintain the illusion.

Pew is a delightful little book, beautifully written and engaging. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick read that also provides thought-provoking ideas about the world we live in.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks to #NetGalley and #Granta for the opportunity to read this book.

This novel provokes so many questions and causes the reader to contemplate their own world view. However this is done with a great lightness of touch, a huge amount of empathy and no sense of judgement or condemnation from the author. I loved the character of 'Pew' - in some ways this reminded me of 'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter' by Carson McCullers but the darkness of the narrative had something shadowing Shirley Jackson's 1st novel, 'The Road Through the Wall'. This small community was brilliantly and incisively evoked and now I am very keen to read Catherine Lacey's other work. Highly recommended!

Literary fiction at its best.A haunting novel a stranger in town embraced.We learn through different voices the effect of his presence.Unique well written a book I could not put down.#netgalley #panmacmillan.

Pew by Catherine Lacey is an intriguing novel about an ambiguous stranger being welcomed into a small community.

This is an enigmatic and intense piece of writing, impressionist rather than linear, that explores themes of identity, fear, morality and religion. Disembodied voices emerge to tell their stories and there is some disturbing imagery that erupts as townspeople respond to Pew, who is both provocation and blank slate upon which other identities are inscribed. The dedication to Jesse Ball will give an idea of the register of the writing, with the mysterious Forgiveness Festival reminding me of Shirley Jackson. A short but resonant read that begs to be 're-read.