Three Great Books #36

The one with the green covers.

Ambition Monster, by Jennifer Romolini

In this memoir, Romolini — whom I found through her fab podcast (with Kim France), “Everything is Fine” — puts herself, her relationships, and her feelings about work and achievement under an unsparing microscope. Romolini was born into a “difficult home,” headed up by parents who had her when they were teenagers; her father hauls the family up the socioeconomic ladder through the “backbreaking work” of his fruit-and-vegetable business. There’s a lot of chaos and no small amount of trauma in her childhood, which she says fuels her “naked and shameless” ambition once her own early marriage dissolves and she sets her sights on a career as a writer in New York. Romolini rises and grinds her way to the highest content echelons of a tech company, where she never says no to a request (to the detriment of her health and her relationship), finds out she’s making at least $100,000 less than her male peers and has a terrifying run-in with the young female CEO (a little Googling tells you who it is). And a few start-ups later, Romolini officially burns out, leaving behind her “all-systems-go career”. With a lot of work, she discovers the idea of “new dreams, smaller in some ways, bigger in others, all involving, for the first time, not a climbing, clawing, one-size-fits-all idea of a successful life, but something more spacious, private, and quiet, something made for the moment I’m in.” This is an eloquent, honest, addictive read.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson

I tend to get so overwhelmed by the tsunami of new books that I forget to dip into the many classics I have never read. But my daughter’s amazing school librarian recommended this to her, and she passed it to me when she was done. My kid’s verdict: “Unsettling.” I concur! Jackson, of course, is the author of the short story that everyone reads at least once in English class, “The Lottery.” This slim, finish-in-a-day novel begins with what might be the best opening paragraph in American literature, introducing us to the narrator, 18-year-old Mary Katherine Blackwood. Merricat, as she’s called by her family, lives with her older sister Constance and her Uncle Julian in a big house on the edge of a small town. We learn that they’re the only survivors of a mass poisoning that killed the rest of the family; Julian was severely impaired by the incident, Merricat survived because she went to bed without supper, and Constance didn’t eat any of the arsenic-laced sugar and was accused, but not convicted, of the crime. They now live hunkered down against the suspicions and prejudices of the villagers, with very few visitors. Then their cousin Charles shows up, clearly attracted by the prospect of the house, its riches, and the unmarried Constance. Merricat is not pleased. This is dark and claustrophobic, with an unnerving conclusion.

The Searcher, by Tana French

I’ve read and loved all of Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series, but for some reason I didn’t pick up this stand-alone novel when it was published in 2020. I’m so glad that two Facebook friends praised it enough to make me grab a copy. (Thank you Jill and Lila!) Like French’s other books, this is a mystery, but it’s a slower burn than her Dublin-based series. Cal Hooper is a retired Chicago cop who has moved to a small Irish village in pursuit of peace and solitude. His ex-wife, daughter, and reasons for leaving the force have been left behind in America, though they fitfully intrude into his thoughts as he fixes up a derelict cottage and starts to meet some of the locals, including his neighbor, Mart. He’s settling into his new civilian mindset when a local kid asks him to find a missing brother, and though Cal doesn’t relish revisiting his investigative role — especially without any of the power and authority that his badge gave him — he reluctantly agrees to poke around to see what he can find out. But “poking around” in a seemingly quiet, economically depressed village means stirring up trouble that was brewing long before he arrived, among locals who would rather Cal keep to himself. The story, once it gets going, has serious momentum, and the chilly, misty Irish setting is the perfect antidote to the summer heat. I’m now ready for the next in the series, “The Hunter”, which came out earlier this year.