The fourth and arguably best novel by American writer Jonathan Lethem.
The plot of the novel concerns how a thirteen year old girl copes with the death of her mother after her family's relocation to an alien planet.
But what's most interesting about Girl in Landscape is how diverse its influences are, and how well Lethem is able to seam them together into a neat stylistic package. On the one hand, the novel is a kind of homage to the "women's fiction" of Shirley Jackson. (Not only does it begin with a quote from her novel Hangsaman, but it features third person narration that stays behind a strong but alienated female character.) On the other, the novel is a salute to the Hollywood Western, particularly John Ford's The Searchers, and even includes a role for John Wayne.
Incidentially, it was a student audience's rejection of The Searchers in 1983, that influenced Lethem to drop-out of Bennington College, which was where Shirley Jackson had taught. So in a way, it all makes sense. | 
