#53 Eileen, by Ottessa Moshfegh

 




Booker Prize: Shortlisted 2016

Plot Time and Place:  1960's, a small town in New England

Opening sentence:  "I looked like a girl you'd expect to see on a city bus, reading some clothbound book from the library about plants or geography, perhaps wearing a net over my light brown hair."

Plot summary: Eileen Dunlop, an unassuming yet disturbed young woman, is trapped between her role as her alcoholic father’s carer in his squalid home and her job as a secretary at the boys’ prison, filled with its own daily horrors. When the charismatic Rebecca Saint John arrives on the scene as the new counsellor at the prison, Eileen is enchanted and unable to resist a miraculously budding friendship. But this new affection is about to cost her dearly.

(from the bookerprizes.com)

Review: I loved this. Eileen is a fascinating character, so flawed, unhappy, trapped in a miserable life. And I liked the noir atmosphere, the suspense, and the writing. I identified with Eileen in her quasi-autistic traits, and how lonely and misunderstood she felt, like she was on the outside looking in at the world.

Rating:  5/5





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