Addicted to a sugary drink, the mice press a lever which gives them either the drink, or an electric shock. Using optogenetics, Gifty wants to understand the mice who continue to press the lever, shock after shock. Gifty lost her brother to an opioid addiction; now her mother has come to live with her, catatonic with depression. Can Gifty’s research help with these opposite responses to pleasure-depression, where there is too much restraint, and drug addiction, where there is not enough? A combination of detached observation and beautiful insight, in language that is both spare and poetic, makes for a beautiful, dazzling novel.

Source: The Irish Times May 21, 2021 23:00 UTC