Dana Spiotta, Innocents And Others

As a teenager, Meadow claims to have had a months-long tryst with Orson Welles. Determined to become a film-maker, she leaves Los Angeles and sets up a makeshift studio in upstate New York. Her first film, an eight-hour Betacam video of her boyfriend, wins a jury prize. She draws acclaim for a 1992 documentary called Kent State: Recovered. Her high school best friend Carrie follows a more traditional path – her comedies win Golden Globe nominations and a Writers Guild Award. Meadow’s penchant for documenting ambiguity and raw emotion draws her into telling the story of Jelly, a woman who seduces powerful men through phone conversations. But soon Meadow stops making films – and only Carrie knows why. Spiotta captures the tensions and contradictions of how we live now in this mesmerising and innovative novel.