The Uses of Enchantment

The Uses of Enchantment

I'm looking forward to this. I've read several other books by Heidi Julavits, and enjoyed them, but I find I have to pace myself. Her books do tend to be a lot alike, and have eccentric and unlikeable characters and bizarre situations. A little goes a long way. I think I'm ready for another, though.


Update:

The year was 1985. Sixteen-year-old Mary Veal, leaving school after soccer practice, was abducted by a stranger, held prisoner for a few weeks, and sexually molested. Or was she?

Her psychiatrist doesn't think so. He believes she fabricated the entire incident. Her mother tends to believe him, thinking it less shameful to have a liar for a daughter than a rape victim.

15 years later, Mary still isn't sure what did or didn't happen. Her mother has just died, unreconciled to her daughter, and Mary returns home for an uneasy reunion with her father and sisters. She finds herself irresistibly drawn to the past, and attempts to unravel what might or might not have happened. Like so many of Heidi Julavits' books, the novel is filled with unpleasant female characters, difficult relationships, and the truth is never cut and dried.

Interesting novel.