Kyle McCarthy

I rushed to my computer to get this book as soon as I read a review in The Swarthmorean, our small-town newspaper - yes, that Swarthmorean, which figures in a major plot point. I'm actually surprised she called our town by its real name, because it signaled a work of autofiction and made me wonder, of course, how many of the other details came from McCarthy's life.

The Swarthmore descriptions were all amazingly accurate. I too was in a car accident on that "fishhook" that is Yale Avenue. The Swim Club; the manager of the Swim Club, "pleasantly weathered by sun and cigarettes." That she was. Evocative descriptions: one of the book's major strengths.

I read it as obsessively as Rose thinks about her best friend Lacie. But I never quite got Rose. She's very unlikable, seducing both of her best friend's boyfriends. I can appreciate a book even if the characters are unpleasant, even immoral, especially if the writing is so beautiful. But why? She's supposedly obsessed with Lacie, borrowing her clothes and reading her diary. But to me the obsession was more pronounced with the boyfriends. Why all the sex with Ian, unless she's just a sex addict? Why seduce Leo?

This is what makes me wonder if the explanation is that Rose is Kyle. Sometimes the most difficult motivations to understand are those within one's own psyche.

I do look forward to reading more of McCarthy's work, once she's purged the autobiographical instincts.… (meer)