Amelia, a bright student is caught cheating on an English paper and is suspended from school. Kate, her mother, a lawyer by profession, gets a call to pick her up from school in the middle of her work day, without any explanation. While she gets to the school an hour later than the appointed time, she is in for a nasty shock, that Amelia committed suicide. Kate is devastated with the police investigation closing the case as suicide, despite having her doubts. And when she tries to swallow the pain and re-enter her work, she gets a text on her cellphone, that Amelia did not commit suicide. Though she initially thinks it to be a sick joke, she begins to reconstruct Amelia and the many facets of a teenage daughter she thought she knew.
The central plot of the story begins with the question of why is Amelia dead?! While the mystery is traced through the texts, mails, phone calls, Facebook updates, school blog, many subplots are thrown in the gauntlet. New characters are introduced into the story, unfolding the last few days of Amelia’s life. The novel progresses with alternating point of views, primarily, from Amelia, a POV of past and Kate, a POV in the present tracing back Amelia. The characters are not overly developed. It seemed like they entered and exited with voice of their own, stating their case. For me, personally, that left me feeling a little alienated in the novel, as though I am a by stander watching a play that is too fast to fully get into it. The story gives a peep window into the lives of high school students, the teenage choices and their repercussions, the friendships and the lies interwoven into the daily fabric of life, the insensitivity of the bullies, the desperate need to belong, the constant struggle between right and wrong, the need to follow the crowd for the fear of rejection – the typical teenage drama comes through effectively in the novel. The bullying goes into a new level, but the reasoning behind it sells the story short of its charm. And despite the suspense, the ending was not a punch in the gut, but more like a logical conclusion, with a lot of sadness for all concerned.
The author, Kimberly McCreight, with her debut novel, puts a compelling case to the conclusion, with enough twists in the plot, to make it a page turner. The novel uncovers bit by bit, the life of a teenager that ended tragically.
Who was Amelia’s father? Why did she suddenly become obsessed with picking through her mother’s story about a one night stand in a bar? Why is Amelia part of a secret club? Was she bullied into it? What was her inner turmoil with all these secrets in her life and no one to talk to? Why could she not open up to her mother? Why could she not confide in her best friend, Silvia? Did her best friend not really know about the club? Were her secrets not really secrets at all?
In parallel, Kate’s life, which is central to the story is also unraveled, as the questions surrounding Amelia’s death haunt Kate too. Did Amelia know about her father? Did she somehow get to know the secret Kate thought was safe? Is that somehow related to Amelia’s death? What was Kate’s dark secret? Who texted Kate about Amelia? Why did her daughter suddenly keep secrets from her? Why was her daughter bullied? Did Amelia really cheat on her English paper? Why was the school blog that despicable? How did that fit into the story?
Those are the questions that trace back part of mother-daughter life and reveal a small window into the lives of other characters involved in their lives.
I personally liked it because it was a simple page turner, told succinctly. Our life is not just influenced by our decisions, but by the decisions of people around us too. As the story progresses to its conclusion, it left me feeling sad and a little upset, that despite a front row seat to the unfolding drama, some chose to let the tide ride out.
While I recommend the book, I would advise you to not pick it up just before you go to sleep, as I did. It will cost you a night’s sleep. And if you do, don’t come back that I did not warn you!!! Have a good read fellow readers!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment