Woman, Eating: 'Absolutely brilliant - Kohda takes the vampire trope and makes it her own' Ruth Ozeki

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Cast in fiberglass and resin from live models, then painted and clothed, Hanson's life-size figures are presented as ordinary individuals engaged in everyday activities. She also has no home because she has lost her childhood house when she put her mom, also a vampire, in an assisted living facility. We've seen sexy vampires, scary vampires and psychic vampires, but never one quite like the one in this ambitious debut.

You can have 2 tuna steaks, or 4 medium-size cans of fish, as well as 2 portions of oily fish a week. Serious issues of race, disability, misogyny, body image, sexual abuse are handled with subtlety, insight, and a lightness of touch.The protagonist's discomfort with her condition comes across as quite realistic in what is essentially a coming-of-age novel. Kohda constantly teases interesting conversations, but when the trap is set, she immeditely moves back into the comfortable blandness of the narrador's inner monologue. I'm surprised that WOMAN, EATING seems to have such mixed reviews because I thought it was brilliant, evocative, and lovely. It felt like the gallery plot coupled with her relationship with Ben and with her studio mates kind of outshone her complex relationship with her mother.

Kohda makes some sharp observations about the world of modern art, its elitism and the precarious nature of jobs in the creative sector: “What’s after internships? I think if Claire Kohda had explored the mother/daughter relationship a little more, I would’ve rated this higher. While her situation is unique her problems are those of any young woman trying to figure out her path in life. Photograph: Misha Gafarova Claire Kohda: ‘excellent at conveying Lydia’s alienation and sense of powerlessness’.

More than once I found myself thinking that Lydia's story would have been better suited to a shorter format (as opposed to a full-length novel). When possible, choose low-fat varieties, such as semi-skimmed, 1% fat or skimmed milk, low-fat yoghurt and reduced-fat hard cheese. This is a character study of an interesting and intriguing young woman, a coming of age, or at least, coming of womanhood, narrated by a fascinating voice I will not soon forget.