Death In Her Hands | Ottessa Moshfegh

My review of Death In Her Hands at WBUR’s The ARTery.

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At long last, the latest #ottessamoshfegh novel, DEATH IN HER HANDS is out, and my review is finally up @wburartery. In the review, I talk about how Moshfegh’s characters are often cast as “unlikeable,” with the implication that protagonists (especially female ones) should be pleasant and ingratiating to put the reader at ease. But one of life’s challenges is learning how to empathize with people who don’t make it easy to do so, and good literature challenges us to get outside of our own heads and into someone else’s, as hard as that might be. Unlike EILEEN, where I actually found the title character kind of charming in spite of (maybe even because of) her rough demeanor, I found Vesta, the focus of DEATH IN HER HANDS, genuinely off-putting: she’s a paranoid, classist snob with nothing but disdain for those she considers unworthy (which is everyone). Where Eileen seems to be punching up, or at least sideways, Vesta punches down (or, she thinks she is, at least). Definitely not a character you cozy up with; but Moshfegh makes it worth your while, and finding out how Vesta got that way is the real reward. Thematically, maybe a little too close to EILEEN for comfort — it feels like a spiritual sequel or continuation (bordering on a reboot, even). But a worthwhile, relatively short read for people who like to squirm a bit. . . #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #deathinherhands #eileen #myyearofrestandrelaxation #penguinpress #literaryfiction #bookreview #bookreviewers #bookobsessed #booklover #booknerd #bookaddict #booksbooksbooks #bookworm #bookish #bookcommunity #bookcover #bookgram #bookblogger #bookblog #bookphoto #igreads #readersofinstagram

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