Fits Like a Rubber Dress

Lynne Perras teaches communication arts at the University of Calgary.

Indigo Blackwell, 29, quits her unfulfilling job at a PR firm to attend
art school. With her new group of friends, she begins to experiment with
drugs and alternative sexual practices. Her husband Sam is researching
the gay community in Toronto in order to write his first novel. Once
Indigo learns that Sam has been doing more than just observing his
subjects, she leaves him to try to find her place in the world.

This story is engaging enough (Ward knows how to create suspense), but
the shallowness and self-absorption of the characters wears a bit thin
after a while, and the novel would have benefited from some editorial
pruning. On the other hand, Ward’s depiction of the hedonistic world
in which Indigo finds herself offers the reader an education of sorts.