I honestly had no idea what to expect from this book having never heard of Megan Abbott, but the front cover had a blub from Kate Atkinson, ‘Deft, intelligent and enthralling’, so I thought well now, if such an accomplished author like Kate Atkinson says this, there must be something good here.
And the novel did not disappoint. It took me a few pages to get into the swing of its narrative because it has a very particular way of telling the story, an internal monologue inside the head of the protagonist, 13-year old Lizzie. Lizzie is extremely attached to her neighbours, the Ververs. Her best friend is Evie, who is the same age as Lizzie, and not only do they do everything together as some girls do, and share everything from clothes to beds to thoughts; they know each other at bone-deep level, they are ‘body-close’ as Lizzie puts it, so close Lizzie feels Evie’s scars as her own, like phantom limbs.
But it is not just Evie whom Lizzie loves – both Evie and Lizzie are dazzled by Evie’s older sister, Dusty, who is the golden girl to them, the coolest, the best, the most desired, the one they try to emulate and please,
A deeply glamorous seventeen. A movie star in halter tops and eyelet and clicking Dr Scholl’s. Eyelashes like gold foil and eyes the colour of watermelon rind, and a soft, curvy body. Always shiny-lipped and bright white-teethed, lip-smacked, flash of tongue, lashes bristling, color high and surging up her cheeks.
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And there is one more Verver whose spell Lizzie is completely and thrillingly under – Mr Verver – whom all the girls love to distraction, because he has the same magical quality of enchantment, and they all want him to shine his magic on them, as Lizzie puts it to herself.
Oh, and Mr Verver, Mr Verver. Mr Verver, he’s the one always vibrating in my chest,, under my fingernails, and in all kinds of places. There’s much to say of him and my mouth can’t manage it, even now. He hums there still.
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The whole novel is rich in sensations and textured emotions, of hormones humming and sexuality thick in the air. The young people laugh and play and frolic and risk and flaunt their youth and bodies with reckless abandonment and enjoyment, and then come the consequences. Not just scrapes and injuries and accidents from games and sports, but far more serious consequences, rousing deeper, darker feelings in others, in older men, who are driven to madness.
Right at the start of the novel, Evie goes missing. And very quickly, a local man, Mr Shaw, is identified as also being missing, and seen in the vicinity of Evie’s house previously and perhaps too often, and the police begin a man hunt for both. At first it looks like a kidnapping, but as the novel unfolds, it soon becomes clear that the waters are deeper, more treacherous, and much muddier. Is Evie a victim or is she an accomplice? Why does her older sister seem so remote from the tragedy? Her father, Mr Verver, is devastated. Lizzie desperately wants to help Mr Verver as much as she herself wants her best friend back, or even more perhaps. She discovers bits and pieces of the puzzle, which she brings to Mr Verver and the police, but concealing some other truths meanwhile, and dangerously, does not actually comprehend how the pieces of puzzle she manages to lay her hands on, actually fit together. Lizzie struggles to see the bigger picture, and courageous as she is, is unable to gauge whether she is causing damage or not, and to whom. There are other characters – Evie’s family, Mr Shaw’s family, school friends – also get involved in the mystery of Evie’s disappearance, and it feels like everyone knows something different, and there are layers upon layers of this community’s secrets.
There is so much love in this novel, some of it deep and protective and heroic, some of it inappropriate, not permissible, unspeakable, much of it unspoken and near obsessive. There are also so many undercurrents, and the plot goes in leaps and bounds, with unexpected twists. It is like watching a most unfamiliar dance, of no known choreography, but a dance executed with great skill nevertheless, and high artistry. In all, a very unusual and satisfying read, that takes the reader into the head of a precocious, unusual thirteen year old protagonist; the novel also creates a wonderful experience of the sensation-laden, hormone-driven internal life and ultra-sensitive skin of a young teen who is both sensitive and sentient to an exceptional degree. All experiences are heightened, augmented, dramatized, felt all too vividly. A novel that is gripping, and sometimes exquisitely poignant.
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