by Victoria Bromley
Every year we have reviewed a book longlisted for The Women’s Prize for Fiction, and this year we’re a fan of one book in particular.
A disclaimer is needed to preface this review, so not to mislead, and that is that I’ve not read all the books nominated for The Women’s Prize so far, so this review is not comparative to the other longlisted titles. That being said, I was only drawn to one book when the longlist was announced, and as readers we all have our specific literary tastes, and along with the artistically abstract cover, I knew I’d be a fan of this book from the very beginning.
Engaging in an affair with a married, promiscuous man, the unnamed narrator obsesses over the other woman he’s sleeping with, using social media as her gateway into her life. She agonises over how differently their lives are and why the man she wants to be with chooses to divide his love and affection between multiple women than commit to her. Yet she can’t leave this toxic cycle, despite having a loving boyfriend who is none the wiser to her dalliances with another man.
Relationships are sites of winning or losing – not connection and safety, but dominance and subjugation.”
I’m a fan of how observant and insightful the narrator was in detailing all the social complexities within our digital age. From how we present ourselves on the internet to how we judge and unpick the lives of those we view through the prism of social media, this book was sharp in exposing how we communicate through a screen.
I’m a fan of the titled vignettes, a humorous and candid way of presenting every chapter, such as “i like the world in my head where i can rehearse” and “for the plot”. I sometimes flicked ahead to see how the forthcoming chapters were titled, eager to know all the witty one-liners which made me smile.
I’m a fan of the apt nicknames the narrator used to refer to the people she obsessed over, giving them a role to play in the theatre of her fixation. By calling him “The man I want to be with” and her “The woman I am obsessed with”, it masks their identities to cast them purely as puppets for her desires. It also serves as a way of stretching literary boundaries and achieving something new and bold in an overcrowded market of dynamic fiction.
I’m a fan of how flawed and unlikeable the narrator was, which is very common for female protagonists nowadays. It’s a shocking revelation to admit, considering we are conditioned to be supportive and sympathetic towards the main character as this is whose mind we live in throughout the novel – a place we want to enjoy. Her obsession towards a despicable, tiresome, toxic man makes it almost impossible to get on board with how she’s torturing herself over his absences and lack of interest. However, it worked! She holds up a mirror to many relationships we experience in our lives and it’s that honesty of being attracted, attached, and all consumed by the wrong person, the one everyone tells you not to be with, which makes this book so captivating.
The man I want to be with is transfixed by his indecision. This is where the drama is for him, all grist for the mill, all these women waiting on his word and it energises him, propels him as he moves out into the world, conquering it with his ideas.”
I’m not a fan of a few things within this novel. At times it felt like I was reading an essay collection where the narrator spilled their views onto the page in rather dense and over convoluted ways which made me disconnect from the narrative. While I found the discussions on race, gender and class interesting, these monologues didn’t merge seamlessly with the story.
While I said I’m not comparing this book to others on the shortlist, I will compare this book to the likes of Homesick by Jenifer Croft (for the candid chapter titles – ironically also longlisted), No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood (for the commentary on social media), and Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason (also for the fragmented narrative and balance of wit and gloom).
The Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023 shortlist will be announced 26th April! What books do you want to see on the shortlist?
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