Luckiest Girl Alive
Jessica Knoll, 2015
Simon & Schuster
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781476789637
Summary
Her perfect life is a perfect lie.
As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve.
But Ani has a secret.
There’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything.
With a singular voice and twists you won’t see coming, Luckiest Girl Alive explores the unbearable pressure that so many women feel to "have it all" and introduces a heroine whose sharp edges and cutthroat ambition have been protecting a scandalous truth, and a heart that's bigger than it first appears.
The question remains: will breaking her silence destroy all that she has worked for—or, will it at long last, set Ani free? (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1984 (?)
• Raised—Philadelphia area, Pennsylvania, USA
• Education—B.A., Hobart and William Colleges
• Currently—New York City, New York
Jessica Knoll has been a senior editor at Cosmopolitan and the articles editor at SELF. She grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and graduated from The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. She lives in New York City with her husband. Luckiest Girl Alive is her first book. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
Luckiest Girl Alive is Gone Girl meets Cosmo meets Sex and the City.... Knoll hits it out of the park.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Readers guessing what the "dark underbelly" of this story is can guess again. It is just the beginning, a trap set by the author [who] scatters the clues so obscurely and randomly that peeking at the ending is just a waste of time.... No shortcuts here.... Knoll’s knack for social nuances on both sides of the socioeconomic tracks deserves mention for the high praise it already is receiving in the book world.
Buffalo News
This is going to be the book you insist all your friends read this summer.... [A] clever, cunning satire on the female condition in the 21st century.
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Luckiest Girl Alive is crime fiction at its best, proving the genre’s deep connections to society’s fears, ambitions, and ability to question the status quo.... Jessica Knoll is a writer to keep an eye on, especially after being compared to Gillian Flynn by Megan Abbott. . . . However, I have found enough personality in Knoll’s debut novel to let her stand on her own, rather than label her "the next Gillian Flynn." Knoll’s version of the feminist crime novel is more steeped in pop culture than Flynn’s, and Ani’s psyche has nothing to envy of Amy’s: they are both troubled, and they both put up outstanding gender and class performances. But while Amy is more private and emotional, Ani relies on modern fashion references that will thrill even Vogue, Cosmo, and Glamour readers.... Luckiest Girl Alive is the ultimate critical companion to millennial femininity.
Los Angeles Review of Books
The perfect page-turner to start your summer (Book of the Week).
People
Dark, twisty...razor-sharp writing...propulsive prose.... [The] reveal is a real doozy—a legitimately shocking, completely unputdownable sequence that unfolds like a slow-motion horror film. It instantly elevates Luckiest Girl...and that momentum keeps going until its final pages.
Entertainment Weekly
Knoll slowly reveals the harrowing truth in a debut that’s part The Devil Wears Prada, part We Need to Talk About Kevin.
O Magazine
Loved Gone Girl? We promise [Luckiest Girl Alive is] just as addictive.
Good Housekeeping
A pulse-pounding, jaw-dropping novel about how tragedy twists and shapes lives.
InTouch
When Ani FaNelli wants something, she gets it: the job, the body, the man. What starts as a Mean Girls-seeming story line transforms into something so dark, so plot-twistingly intense that…well, actually, no spoilers here.
Marie Claire
The perfect kind of summer read: Nail-bitingly addictive, equal parts funny and twisted, and full of "I never saw THAT coming" moments.
Glamour
[Readers] probably won't leave Luckiest Girl Alive wishing they had a friend just like TifAni, but...if they liked Gone Girl, they'll be thrilled to see another woman who's allowed to be smart and mean, vulnerable and detestable.
Time.com
Knoll introduces you to your new best frenemy, and you’re going to love it.... Destined to become one of the summer’s most gripping reads.
Bustle.com
One of "18 Brilliant Books You Won't Want To Miss This Summer."
Huffington Post
One woman’s carefully orchestrated, perfect life slowly cracks to reveal a dark underbelly in Knoll’s knockout debut novel.... [W]hat sets this novel apart is the author’s ability to snare the reader from page one.... [A] completely enthralling read.
Publishers Weekly
[Ani FaNelli is] a cross between Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw and Gone Girl’s Amy Dunne.... Knoll’s debut truly delivers and will keep readers engaged until the end.
Library Journal
[A] dark, cynical psychological comment on our culture of excess and violence.... The promise of redemption in the end is not enough to balance the darkness.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
2. During the course of the book, the way that Ani is identified changes. At varying times, she is TifAni FaNelli, Tif, Finny, and Ani Harrison. What do these names indicate about her and how she relates to herself and others?
3. Why do you think Ani agrees to participate in the documentary about the Five? What was her role in the tragedy? How has it shaped her as an adult?
4. When describing Arthur for the documentary, Ani remembers how “he was the only one who stood up for me when a lot of people turned on me.” Why is it so important that she shares something positive about him? Discuss Ani’s friendship with Arthur. Why do you think he defended her? What was your first impression of Arthur? Did your feelings about him change? If so, why?
5. Ani says the word “fiancé” does not “bother me so much as the one that came after it. Husband. That word laced the corset tighter, crushing organs, sending panic into my throat with the bright beat of a distress signal.” Discuss why it is so important to Ani to be married before the documentary airs. Do you think, as Ani does, that her engagement ring is a symbol of status and legitimacy? What compromises, if any, must Ani make for the sake of her engagement? Do you think the compromises are worth it? Explain your answer.
6. What were your initial impressions of Dina FaNelli? After learning what happened to Ani at Dean’s party, Dina “told me I was not the daughter she raised.” What values did Dina impart? Do you think she was a good mother? Why or why not?
7. During Ani’s junior year of high school, she takes a trip to New York City with her classmates. How is this trip a watershed moment for her? Contrast the reality of her life in New York City with the vision of her future that she had then. Has she achieved the success she dreamed of? How does Ani measure success? Does this change by the novel’s conclusion? In what ways?
8. Although Ani initially distrusts the documentary director, Aaron, she begins to think of him as “kind, rather than leering.” What causes Ani to change her mind? Do you think Aaron has her best interests at heart? Ani’s burgeoning trust of Aaron ultimately leads her to wonder “if that had been the reality all along, and, if it was, what else I’d read wrong.” Many of the characters in this book struggle to distinguish their perceptions from reality. Are there any who are particularly adept at it? If so, who are they? Discuss how they manage to do it.
9. Explain the significance of the title of the book. When Ani is called the “‘luckiest girl alive,’” the phrase is used derisively. Who describes her as such and why? By the conclusion of the book, did you think Ani was lucky? If so, in what way?
10. What do you think led to the tragedy at Bradley? Could it have been prevented, and, if so, how? What role, if any, does Ani play in the tragedy?
11. After Luke meets Ani’s parents, he says “I can’t believe I’m the one who got to save you.” Discuss Luke’s relationship with Ani. Do you think he did save her from her past? Why is he so reluctant to speak with Ani about it? Did you think Luke and Ani were well suited?
12. Discuss the structure of the book. What’s the effect of alternating between Ani’s current life and her freshman year at Bradley? Did learning about Ani’s past help you better understand her current actions? Did your feelings about Ani change as you learned more about her? If so, how?
13. Ani tells Andrew Larson that she is wary of participating in the documentary because “‘I don’t know what the bent is. I know what the editing process can do.’” Are Ani’s reservations justified? Many of the characters edit their versions of events, often to fit self-serving narratives. When Ani is interviewed by Dr. Anita Perkins, Ani “had to guide everyone in my direction with swift surety, otherwise they would dig, dig, dig.” What effect does Ani’s distortion of the truth have on her life and the lives of those around her? Are there other characters who are lying by omission? Who are they and what are their motivations?
14. Why is Ani is desperate to be friends with Hilary and Olivia. What sacrifices is she willing to make to keep their friendship? Contrast Ani’s friendship with Hilary and Olivia with her friendship with Nell. Do you think that Nell is a good friend? In what ways?
Everybody Rise
Stephanie Clifford, 2015
St. Martin's Press
400 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250077509
Summary
It's 2006 in the Manhattan of the young and glamorous. Money and class are colliding in a city that is about to go over a financial precipice and take much of the country with it.
At 26, bright, funny and socially anxious Evelyn Beegan is determined to carve her own path in life and free herself from the influence of her social-climbing mother, who propelled her through prep school and onto the Upper East Side. Evelyn has long felt like an outsider to her privileged peers, but when she gets a job at a social network aimed at the elite, she's forced to embrace them.
Recruiting new members for the site, Evelyn steps into a promised land of Adirondack camps, Newport cottages and Southampton clubs thick with socialites and Wall Streeters. Despite herself, Evelyn finds the lure of belonging intoxicating, and starts trying to pass as old money herself.
When her father, a crusading class-action lawyer, is indicted for bribery, Evelyn must contend with her own family's downfall as she keeps up appearances in her new life, grasping with increasing desperation as the ground underneath her begins to give way.
Bracing, hilarious and often poignant, Stephanie Clifford's debut offers a thoroughly modern take on classic American themes—money, ambition, family, friendship—and on the universal longing to fit in. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Seattle, Washington, USA
• Education—B.A., Harvard University
• Awards—Gerald Loeb Award (journalism)
• Currently—lives in Brooklyn, New York City, New York
Stephanie Clifford is a Loeb-award winning reporter at the New York Times, where she has covered business, media and New York City. She is currently a Metro reporter covering federal and state courts in Brooklyn. She joined the Times in 2008 from Inc. magazine, where she was a senior writer.
Stephanie grew up in Seattle and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, son and two cats. Everybody Rise is her first book. (From the publisher.)
See the author's "informal bio."
Book Reviews
In a tightly plotted narrative, Clifford shows how Evelyn's tenuous initiation into this most elite of social networks coincides with an increasingly desperate effort to secure her footing there...Clifford details the manners of the old-money set with a reporter's well-trained eye.
New York Times Book Review
A smart tragicomedy about a young woman attempting to infiltrate the "Primates of Park Avenue" crowd.... Ferociously incisive class commentary....a 21st-century fable of one woman's reconstruction.
Washington Post
Gossip Girl fans, rejoice! Behold the literary version of a Jenny-esque narrated story, had she met Blair and Serena in her mid-20s. Cue lies, affairs and mounting debt.
Marie Claire
The summer's most anticipated beach read...a funny, sharply observed debut novel about young one percenters in New York...a buzzy Tom-Wolfe-meets-Edith-Wharton novel of young Manhattan.
Hollywood Reporter
Author Stephanie Clifford has been described as a modern-day Edith Wharton.
Elle
Addictive: think Prep meets The Devil Wears Prada.
Good Housekeeping
The upstart heroine...wages a one-woman assault on the old-money snobbery of the Upper East Side, before the Wall Street stock market crash of 2008.... [A]n amusing page-turning beach read. But if the author is trying to suggest that after 2008, class and the UES no longer hold sway, her argument is thin.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) Clifford...has penned either a...cautionary tale for those seeking access to this rarefied world.... A compulsive, up-close-and-personal read about the first cracks in the greed-and-bleed U.S. economy that went flying off the rails so spectacularly a short time later. —Beth Andersen, formerly with Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI
Library Journal
A young woman who works at a tech startup tries to shoehorn her way into New York's high society.... But [she] spends so much time doing such bone-headed things...that's it's hard to work up any interest in what happens to her. Clifford's debut tries to be a Bonfire of the Vanities for our time but doesn't make it.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think Barbara has such specific expectations for her daughter? When does Evelyn successfully push back against these, and how? Why do you think Evelyn comes to hold some of the same values as her mother? How does the Barbara-Evelyn relationship shift as the novel goes on? Do you have sympathy for Barbara?
2. Evelyn considers, at one point, how easy it would be if she could marry Preston. Do you think this would be a good pairing? Can marriages of convenience like this work? Should Preston’s sexuality, or Evelyn’s assessment of Preston’s sexuality, figure into her thinking more?
3. How porous is social class in America? Could Evelyn have made different decisions that would have allowed her to ultimately fit in in Camilla’s circle?
4. At the end, Charlotte updates Evelyn and tells her that all her former friends are just fine. Still, the financial crisis is coming. How do you think the characters who stay in New York make it through that? Do you think they are as untouchable as Charlotte seems to think? Now, several years after the financial crisis, do you see certain groups who haven’t been affected and certain groups who have?
5. When we first meet Evelyn, she feels overlooked: "But it would be nice to have a place for once, to have people look at her and think she was interesting and worth talking to, not to have them politely fumble for details about her life and get them wrong and instantly forget her. (Murray Hill, right? No, the Upper East Side. Ah, and Bucknell? No, Davidson.)" Why is that important to her? Does she achieve this place she’s looking for? Have you struggled with a similar goal? What happened?
6. Why does Scot end up accepted by this group in the end? What does he bring to the table that Evelyn does not?
7. Did you find Evelyn likable? Why or why not? How important is it to you as a reader that a book’s protagonist be likeable? What are books you’ve liked where the main character is unlikable? Do you have different expectations about likability for male and for female protagonists?
8. Do you think Dale committed bribery? Why or why not? How important is the question of her father’s guilt or innocence to Evelyn?
9. Charlotte seems to see herself as a moral arbiter in the book. Do you agree with her moral stance? Is she a good friend to Evelyn? Are there ways that Evelyn is a good friend to her?
10. At one point Evelyn puzzles over why debutante balls still exist when young women are hardly kept behind closed doors until age eighteen. What’s your take on this? Why do they continue to occur?
11. As Evelyn watches her father’s sentencing, she wonders why he’s receiving such a harsh punishment when others who have erred are not. "Why were the consequences so severe for him?" she asks. Is that something you see elsewhere in the novel—that rules apply to one set of people but not another? Are there current events where this apply? Or do you think she’s making excuses for her father—and for herself ?
12. Is Camilla and Evelyn’s friendship genuine? Why or why not? Have you had short-term friendships? Why didn’t they work out? What makes for a real and lasting friendship?
13. Do you think Evelyn and Scot are well-paired as a couple? At the novel’s end, after Evelyn has changed, would you see them working out?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
In a Dark, Dark Wood
Ruth Ware, 2015
Gallery/Scout Press
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781501112331
Summary
What should be a cozy and fun-filled weekend deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn in Ruth Ware’s suspenseful, compulsive, and darkly twisted psychological thriller.
Leonora, known to some as Lee and others as Nora, is a reclusive crime writer, unwilling to leave her "nest" of an apartment unless it is absolutely necessary.
When a friend she hasn’t seen or spoken to in years unexpectedly invites Nora (Lee?) to a weekend away in an eerie glass house deep in the English countryside, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip.
Forty-eight hours later, she wakes up in a hospital bed injured but alive, with the knowledge that someone is dead. Wondering not "what happened?" but "what have I done?" Nora (Lee) tries to piece together the events of the past weekend. Working to uncover secrets, reveal motives, and find answers, Nora (Lee) must revisit parts of herself that she would much rather leave buried where they belong: in the past.
In the tradition of Paula Hawkins's instant New York Times bestseller The Girl On the Train and S. J. Watson’s riveting national sensation Before I Go To Sleep, this gripping literary debut from UK novelist Ruth Ware will leave you on the edge of your seat through the very last page. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1977
• Raised—Lewes, Sussex, England, UK
• Education—B.A., Manchester University
• Currently—lives in London
Ruth Ware is the British author of mystery thrillers. She grew up in Sussex, on the south coast of England. After graduating from Manchester University she moved to Paris, before returning to the UK. She has worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language, and a press officer. She now lives in London with her husband and two small children.
After her debut In a Dark, Dark Wood was published in 2015, Ware was asked by NPR's David Greene about mystery writers who had influenced her:
I read a huge amount of it as a kid. You know, Agatha Christie, Josephine Tey, Dorothy L. Sayers, Sherlock Holmes. And I didn't consciously channel that when I was writing, but when I finished and reread the book, I did suddenly realize how much this kind of structure owed to...Agatha Christie. And it wasn't consciously done, but...I would say I definitely owe a debt to Christie.
Indeed many have noticed Christie's influence in both of Ware's books, including her second, The Woman in Cabin 10, released in 2016. Ware's third novel, The Lying Game, came out in 2017, and her fourth, The Death of Mrs. Westaway in 2018.(Adapted from the publisher.)
Book Reviews
If the premise might be the sort that Agatha Christie would have toyed with had she been a 21st-century graduate, Ware’s analysis of the power-games some women revel in—and the toxicity in the undertow of some female friendships—is more reminiscent of Sophie Hannah, Christobel Kent, or even Gillian Flynn and Harriet Lane.
Patricia Nicol - Independent (UK)
In a Dark, Dark Wood packs a noirish punch that would make the Queen of Crime herself proud.
Bustle.com
Ware’s debut novel sets the stage for her to become a household name.… Engaging, suspenseful and mysterious.
RT Book Reviews
Just try to guess how sinister this plot can get (hint: VERY).
Marie Claire
You’ll find it almost impossible to put this twisting, electrifying debut down...[The] foggy atmosphere and chilling revelations will leave you breathless.
Entertainment Weekly
WARNING: This book is hot. Do not pick it up late at night or if you are in a dark, dark wood...Ruth Ware has a gift. This British author’s first foray into fiction is a hit…it delivers a punch and keeps you guessing—an ideal August psychodrama that reminds us why mysteries remain such fun—except at night.
New York Journal of Books
[S]omewhat derivative first novel, a psychological thriller.... Ware does a competent job ratcheting up the suspense, but the revelations aren’t as exciting as the buildup.
Publishers Weekly
The final reveal is pretty predictable. However, the success of the first half of the novel does speak to Ware's ability to spin a good yarn.... [Ware's] characters, while somewhat stock, have enough depth to fool even savvy mystery fans for a while.... Read it on a dark and stormy night—with all the lights on.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Nora is a mystery writer who lives an extremely predictable, routine lifestyle. As a professional, she is in control of her novels’ action, dialogue, setting, and outcome, and in her personal life, she takes utmost care to control her environment, her health, and her social life. Why is it so important for Nora to be in control of everything in her life? How do the events of the novel take that sense of control away from her? How does Nora respond as her mental state and her freedom become increasingly uncontrollable?
2. What techniques does the author use to ratchet up the tension and suspense throughout the novel? Discuss specific moments that were unnerving for you as a reader, and how the author kept you on edge. How did the author use humor to lighten the mood periodically?
3. Nora is called something different by every character she encounters in the novel—she is Nora, Lee, Leo, and Leonora depending on to whom she is speaking. Even her novels are published under a different name: L. N. Shaw. What does Nora’s ability to shift identities say about her personality and her motivations? Why is she so adamant that everyone at the hen party call her “Nora”? How do the various iterations of her name represent completely different personalities and histories? Why does Lee stutter, but Nora does not?
4. Structurally, In a Dark, Dark Wood shifts from Nora’s present experience in the hospital dealing with memory loss to her recollections of the hen party weekend at the Glass House. How did this shifting structure impact your reading of the novel and your perspective on the various characters? What is gained by switching back and forth between past and present?
5. How does the author foreshadow the events of Saturday night and who is eventually proven responsible for what happens? Did you see the twists coming, or were you surprised by the novel’s outcome?
6. Why is running so important to Nora’s well-being and her mental state? Why does Nora always feel a need to escape, and what are her fears when she is not able to run?
7. How does the Glass House become a character in the book? How does the author convey its remoteness, and how does the house take on an almost sinister quality over the course of the weekend? What did you think about Flo’s story about the house’s construction and her aunt’s struggle with the villagers?
8. Describe Nora’s relationship with James. Is it reasonable to think that her feelings toward him would be what they are after a decade?
9. What explains Flo’s extreme loyalty to Clare? Is she simply a weak person looking to latch on to someone more confident and secure, or is there something else at play in their relationship? How are Nora and Flo’s relationships with Clare similar? Why does Clare act the way she does, especially toward people like Nora and Flo? What does Clare stand to gain by identifying herself with and buoying up people who are so different from her?
10. To what extent did you find Nora to be a reliable narrator? Identify key moments where you trusted her, and key moments where you doubted her. What techniques does the author use to make Nora seem both reliable and unreliable at various points in the novel?
11. Many of the characters of the novel are actors, and there is a great deal of talk about various plays and shows—Tom met Clare while working in the theater, and Nora and James first encountered each other when Clare fell ill and Nora, the understudy, took on Clare’s leading role. The Glass House is referred to numerous times as a stage with an audience of trees beyond its windows. Why is all this talk of actors and performances so significant in the novel? Which characters are performing the most, and why? Which performances did you see through, and which did you believe?
12. What do you think happens to the characters after the novel is over? How do you think what happens at the Glass House will impact each of them in their lives and relationships going forward?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
top of page (summary)
A Window Opens
Elisabeth Egan, 2015
Simon & Schuster
400 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781501105456
Summary
What happens when a wife and mother of three leaps at the chance to fulfill her professional destiny—only to learn every opportunity comes at a price?
In A Window Opens, beloved books editor at Glamour magazine Elisabeth Egan brings us Alice Pearse, a compulsively honest, longing-to-have-it-all, sandwich generation heroine for our social-media-obsessed, lean in (or opt out) age.
Like her fictional forebears Kate Reddy and Bridget Jones, Alice plays many roles (which she never refers to as “wearing many hats” and wishes you wouldn’t, either). She is a mostly-happily married mother of three, an attentive daughter, an ambivalent dog-owner, a part-time editor, a loyal neighbor and a Zen commuter. She is not: a cook, a craftswoman, a decorator, an active PTA member, a natural caretaker or the breadwinner.
But when her husband makes a radical career change, Alice is ready to lean in—and she knows exactly how lucky she is to land a job at Scroll, a hip young start-up which promises to be the future of reading, with its chain of chic literary lounges and dedication to beloved classics. The Holy Grail of working mothers―an intellectually satisfying job and a happy personal life―seems suddenly within reach.
Despite the disapproval of her best friend, who owns the local bookstore, Alice is proud of her new “balancing act” (which is more like a three-ring circus) until her dad gets sick, her marriage flounders, her babysitter gets fed up, her kids start to grow up and her work takes an unexpected turn.
Readers will cheer as Alice realizes the question is not whether it’s possible to have it all, but what does she―Alice Pearse―really want? (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1973-74 (?)
• Raised—South Orange, New Jersey, USA
• Education—N/A
• Currently—lives in Montclair, New Jersey
Elisabeth Egan is the books editor at Glamour. Her essays and book reviews have appeared in Self, Glamour, O, The Oprah Magazine, People, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Huffington Post, New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Times Book Review, Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times and Newark Star-Ledger. She lives in New Jersey with her family. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
Elisabeth Egan has created a protagonist for the Lean In generation.
O, The Oprah Magazine
Egan has an eye for the absurdities of the corporate workplace and an ear for its preposterous jargon: “drilling down,” “onboarding,” “action item,” “noodle that over.” And she’s very funny on the cultural chasm separating Alice, who is in her late 30s, from her savvy younger colleagues in their “statement glasses.” As Alice puts it, “Sometimes I felt like one of the Danish au pairs I made plans with on the front lawn of the school – understanding but not understanding.” These workaday passages are further enhanced by the presence of two delightfully loathsome villains.
New York Times Book Review
Egan’s novel is both smart and entertaining, and has the added pleasure of some insider publishing juiciness…Though the novel’s focus is on Alice’s work/life balance, the true heart of the story, and what I found most moving, was her relationship with her ailing father. His illness is presented with refreshing straight-forwardness and humor, and his text and e-mail missives are copious.
Emma Straub - Washington Post
Alice Pearse appears on the page as the quintessential 2015 thirtysomething heroine…the novel is peppered with her consumerist commentary, which largely manages to keep the voice functioning as a tongue-in-cheek self-parody. Egan nails this ridiculous yet terrifying rat race reality in perfect detail…A Window Opens provides us an emergency exit to situations into which we keep cornering ourselves. It's a powerful reminder we all need — and a great read at that.”
Bustle.com
I can't think of a more delicious literary cocktail.
Conde Nast Traveler - The Fug Girls,
Egan immediately lures female bibliophiles into her protagonist Alice Pearse’s story.... Though the author successfully skewers start-ups and corporate culture, Alice’s disillusionment with her trendy employer is slow to play out, filling much of the space with repetitive plot developments.
Publishers Weekly
Glamour books editor Egan may draw inspiration from her own work-life balancing act with this tale of Alice Pearce, an optimistic and reasonably contented wife, mother, and part-time editor who suddenly gets a smashing full-time job at Scroll, a too-cool start-up with a string of fashionable literary lounges devoted to the classics. Is Alice on the verge of having it all? And does she really want it?
Library Journal
(Starred review.) What happens when a book lover gets caught up in the tech world?... Egan...packs an incredible amount of humor, observation, and insight into her buoyant debut novel, a sort-of The Way We Live Now for 21st-century moms.... Women may not be able to have it all, but this novel can.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. At the beginning of the book, Alice says that a page has turned; she and her husband are “on to a new chapter” (15). What events lead to this new chapter, and what impact do they have on the Pearse family? How do they deal with the changes, for better or for worse?
2. How does Alice’s friend Susanna react when Alice tells her that she has decided to interview for a full-time job at Scroll? Why does Susanna respond as she does? How do you feel about Susanna’s reaction and about Alice’s decision to apply for a job that will almost certainly have a direct impact on her best friend? Do you feel greater sympathy for one of the characters in particular? If so, why?
3. What kind of pressures and challenges do the main characters face throughout the story, and how do they cope with them? Which methods seem to be the most effective for dealing with these obstacles?
4. How are technology and social media represented in the book? Are they presented positively or negatively—or does the author offer a mostly neutral view? Explain.
5. During Alice’s job interview at Scroll, one of the employees says that the company represents the “intersection of the past and the future.” What does he mean by this? Do you agree with his assessment? How do the characters in the book feel about the MainStreet Company and about Scroll? Are they mostly united in their opinions or is a variety of opinions offered? What seems to influence or determine the side each character takes on this issue?
6. Genevieve recalls George Bernard Shaw’s maxim, “Progress is impossible without change.” What message does the book offer about the themes of progress and change?
7. A Window Opens offers a fresh take on the ways we communicate with one another as family, friends, and colleagues. How do the various characters communicate with one another throughout the story? Would you say that they are good communicators? Explain. How does the novel ultimately allow readers to understand and define “good” or “effective” communication?
8. At the anniversary party for Nicholas’s parents, an old friend gives a toast in which he says that the key to Elliot and Judy’s happiness has been their ability to change alongside each other. What does this mean in the context of this story, and how is it applicable in real life?
9. When Alice accepts the job at Scroll, the company allows her to choose a first edition of her favorite book. What book does she choose? Why do you think that she may have been interested in this book in particular? What books do the other employees choose? Are their choices surprising? Does the choice of one’s reading material seem to reveal any information about his or her character? Do you believe that your own book choices reveal information about your character? Discuss.
10. Alice frequently compares herself to other women. Do these comparisons help her in any way or are they more harmful than productive? Alice also frequently reflects upon the past, although she later recalls the popular advice: “Stay in the moment.” Does the book suggest whether or not reflecting upon one’s past is helpful, or does it advise living in the moment and letting the past be the past? Explain.
11. How do the characters in the novel cope with illness and grief? Do they each react the same way? How do people respond to news of the death of Alice’s father? How does Alice feel about their reactions? What does Alice find comforting or useful as she is grieving?
12. Why might the author have chosen the title, "A Window Opens for this novel"? What does the title of the novel signify? Where is the title referenced in the book and what figurative examples of “ a window opening” are found throughout? How does the title reinforce or underline the major theme or themes of the novel?
13. What mistakes do the adult characters make, and how do they learn from and correct these mistakes? How do they respond to the mistakes of others? What messages does the book offer about failure, judgment, and forgiveness?
14. Alice writes a letter to her children’s long-time babysitter, Jessie, that she never delivers. What advice does she give to Jessie in this letter? What question or questions does Alice suggest people should ask when they reach adulthood? Do you agree with her advice?
15. Do you feel that Alice made the right choice by accepting the job at Scroll? Do you feel that she made the right choice by leaving the same job later? How did both of her decisions impact those around her? How did her decisions contribute to or detract from her own development and sense of self and well-being? Discuss.
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
Eileen
Ottessa Mosfegh, 2015
Penguin
272 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781594206627
Summary
A lonely young woman working in a boys’ prison outside Boston in the early 60s is pulled into a very strange crime, in a mordant, harrowing story of obsession and suspense, by one of the brightest new voices in fiction.
So here we are. My name was Eileen Dunlop. Now you know me.
I was twenty-four years old then, and had a job that paid fifty-seven dollars a week as a kind of secretary at a private juvenile correctional facility for teenage boys. I think of it now as what it really was for all intents and purposes—a prison for boys. I will call it Moorehead. Delvin Moorehead was a terrible landlord I had years later, and so to use his name for such a place feels appropriate. In a week, I would run away from home and never go back.
This is the story of how I disappeared . . .
The Christmas season offers little cheer for Eileen Dunlop, an unassuming yet disturbed young woman trapped between her role as her alcoholic father’s caretaker in a home whose squalor is the talk of the neighborhood and a day job as a secretary at the boys’ prison, filled with its own quotidian horrors. Consumed by resentment and self-loathing, Eileen tempers her dreary days with perverse fantasies and dreams of escaping to the big city. In the meantime, she fills her nights and weekends with shoplifting, stalking a buff prison guard named Randy, and cleaning up her increasingly deranged father’s messes.
When the bright, beautiful, and cheery Rebecca Saint John arrives on the scene as the new counselor at Moorehead, Eileen is enchanted and proves unable to resist what appears at first to be a miraculously budding friendship. In a Hitchcockian twist, her affection for Rebecca ultimately pulls her into complicity in a crime that surpasses her wildest imaginings.
Played out against the snowy landscape of coastal New England in the days leading up to Christmas, young Eileen’s story is told from the gimlet-eyed perspective of the now much older narrator. Creepy, mesmerizing, and sublimely funny, in the tradition of Shirley Jackson and early Vladimir Nabokov, this powerful debut novel enthralls and shocks, and introduces one of the most original new voices in contemporary literature. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—May 20, 1981
• Where—Boston, Massachusetts, USA
• Education—Stanford University
• Awards—Paris Review’s Plimpton Prize; Fence Modern Prize in Prose
• Currently—a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California
Ottessa Moshfegh is an American author and novelist, born in Boston, Massachusetts. Her mother was born in Croatia and her father was born in Iran. She received the Plimpton Prize for Fiction from The Paris Review in 2013 for her story "Bettering Myself."
Moshfegh is a frequent contributor to The Paris Review; she has published six stories in the journal since 2012. Fence Books published her novella, McGlue, in 2014, as the inaugural winner of the Fence Modern Prize in Prose judged by Rivka Galchen. It was shortlisted for the Believer Book Award.
Her novel, Eileen, was published in 2015 to positive reviews, while a forthcoming collection of short stories is set to be published, although the date has not been announced.
Moshfegh was a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University from 2013 to 2015. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 8/24/2015.)
Book Reviews
[D]ark and unnerving.... As the claustrophobia and filth of [Eileen's] circumstances become more suffocating...they seem more redundant than effective. With the arrival of the mysterious Rebecca...the narrative’s [momentum] finally picks up somewhat, although it will still feel stagnant to some.
Publishers Weekly
Initially, this novel reads like a memoir of a drab, friendless young woman.... [Then] the tale shapeshifts into a crime thriller.... Moshfegh's ability to render Eileen's dreary tale so compelling is testament to her narrative skills. —Reba Leiding, emeritus, James Madison Univ. Lib., Harrisonburg, VA
Library Journal
(Starred review.) Literary psychological suspense at its best.
Booklist
(Starred review.) A woman recalls her mysterious escape from home in this taut, controlled noir about broken families and their proximity to violence.... A shadowy and superbly told story of how inner turmoil morphs into outer chaos.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher.)