"Karen Heuler's THE SOFT ROOM starts with a provocativepremise and twists its way into unexpected territory. Exploringthe meaning of pain and duality, her characters end up in aweirdly life-affirming landscape-the shape morality takes whenfaced with cruelty and senseless harm. Heuler's writing is clearand thoughtful, and as full of surprises as her story. She has a giftfor the oblique, a quirky take on things that flows through thenarrative like the atmosphere of a planet almost like our own.THE SOFT ROOM is a pleasure to read, fitting for a novel aboutsensation, and it also rewards the reader with memorablecharacters and ideas about important themes of our time." -Sally George, FROG SALAD"This absolutely stunning novel is told from the perspectives oftwin girls, one of whom is born without the ability to feel anyphysical pain. The mesmerizing prose and deep characterizationsnearly render the plot-while excellent in and of itself-almostunimportant." -Debi Lewis, BOOKLIST starred review,!7IB9D1-jicdca!:P;l;o;T;pISBN