Use the Words you Have - Kimberly Campanello

"I wonder if you've had a love like this? If there was a love you had one day long ago, a love that you tell stories about. Do you have the words to write it?" A striking debut novel and literary romance, Kimberly Campanello's 'Use the Words You Have' centres upon American student K's relationship with a Breton local as it ignites her self-actualisation as a woman and a writer. Barred from speaking English by their French Honors programme, the other American students' identities flicker and fade from the estrangement. Yet for K, who immerses herself deeper into her exchange family's life, this dissolution makes way for a profound transformation. An intoxicating coming-of-age story, 'Use the Words You Have' is rich in Breton cuisine and culture, French poetry and Italian-American rituals. Cinematic, erotic and poetic, it holds great appeal for adult and young adult readers alike, and promises to steal hearts and captivate minds in similar fashion to Andre Aciman's 'Call Me By Your Name'. Even so, Campanello's debut presents a truly singular world and introduces readers to an utterly original new voice in literary fiction.