Bright and Dangerous Objects, the U.S. debut by British author Anneliese Mackintosh, is a hypnotic exploration of what it means to want. Deep-sea diver Solvig should be content with her loving boyfriend, James. But when Solvig hears about the daring Mars Project, which promises to send a mission to colonize Mars, she can't get the idea out of her mind. While she agrees to try for a baby with James, Solvig simultaneously applies for the Project, keeping her application a secret as she rises among the contestants. All the while, Solvig continues to go on dives, hoping the time away under miles of ocean will help her articulate what she wants from life.
Sparse but powerful, tense but precise, Mackintosh's prose is perfectly paired to her subject matter. Like a throat clenched before a cry, the writing, and particularly the dialogue, demonstrates the massive weight of feeling held just under the surface of Solvig's cool and distant demeanor. Solvig's adopted mantra of "pain is part of the process" becomes a theme for the book, as readers empathize with Solvig's self-loathing, loneliness and indecision. Nevertheless, it is the pressure of these barely restrained feelings that ultimately allows for the novel's bittersweet, glittering conclusion, which promises nothing but manages a much-desired catharsis all the same. Readers, like Solvig, float through the novel wondering, "How are you ever supposed to know what you want?" But by the end, Mackintosh proves she has known what Solvig and readers wanted all along. --Alice Martin, freelance writer and editor