Eileen

“I'd never learned how to relate to people, much less how to speak up for myself. I preferred to sit and rage quietly.”

There’s an underlying uneasiness to this somewhat stream of consciousness tale; an almost haunting feeling like there could be a supernatural element introduced at some point, but it never arrives. I don’t know if that’s what Shirley Jackson embodies at times, as I have yet to read the heralded author. Eileen is certainly a slow-burner—emphasis on slowburn—with moments of meandering coming of age blended in, but I enjoyed my time with this complex character study. Due to its intricate narrative pacing I do think it begins to lose steam in the third act, but there was a consistently palpable comparison to the great film, Carol. A strong debut for Moshfegh, and you can easily see the fleshed out development from Eileen to the Narrator in her best book, My Year of Rest and Relaxation.