Heyyy… the second installment of the Sad Girl Book is finally here. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “What took so long?” Well, last semester I wasn’t reading sad girl books as much as I was the sad girl reading books assigned to me by professors who don’t care about fulfilling my insatiable desire for depressing literature (which is honestly really rude and inconsiderate of them). However, I made winter break my bitch and read up on my sad girl books, one of which was “Eileen” by iconic sad girl author, Ottessa Moshfegh. This book was recently made into a feature film starring Academy Award-winning sad girl, Anne Hathaway. It’s been getting a lot of buzz lately, and for a good reason: this book is wild.
Set in the 1960s (objectively the time period in which sad girl books flourished the most), the story follows a 24-year-old Eileen Dunlop. What makes this book particularly interesting and imparts an eerie, yet nostalgic tone is the narration. Moshfegh uses first person, however, Eileen is recounting the novel’s events several decades later in her old age. All of the text’s action takes place in the week leading up to Eileen’s disappearance from her hometown, which she dubs “X-ville.” Within X-ville, Eileen lives with and cares for her alcoholic father who has spiraled after her mother’s death. While this sounds very noble, don’t get it twisted, Eileen is no saint. Moshfegh is an expert at writing suffocatingly unlikeable protagonists, and Eileen is no different. A major aspect of this unlikeability is the grotesque nature of her characterization. Eileen does not shy away from sharp, often blunt rhetoric surrounding her body. Moshfegh describes Eileen as self-loathing, which is evident in her desire to shield herself and others from observing her body. Reading is often seen as a source of comfort for many; people dislike having their assumptions or beliefs challenged, especially when they are engaging in an activity for pleasure. Eileen’s bluntness surrounding not only her appearance but also how she perceives others and the world around her is intended to make readers uncomfortable and characterizes Eileen as an antihero.
Like her father, Eileen is drunk much of the time, lives in filth, limits her showers, barely eats and is so repulsed by her own sexuality that she swaddles her genitalia out of shame. Eileen works as a secretary at an all-boys prison and desperately desires two things: the love and attention of her male coworker, Randy, and to escape her life in X-ville and move to New York City. I’ll give you a hint, she gets one of these things. Her life at the prison is fairly monotonous until Rebecca, the prison’s new director of education, arrives. Rebecca is confident, delegate and fashionable, all qualities that Eileen feels like she lacks. From the minute Rebecca steps foot on the prison’s grounds, Eileen is transfixed. Yes, not only is this book unsettling, it’s sapphic as well (huge)! Over the course of a few days, Rebecca and Eileen develop a friendship, which leads up to the night of Christmas Eve when Rebecca invites Eileen to her house. In a shocking twist of events (which I will be keeping vague to avoid spoiling), Rebecca shocks Eileen by exposing an ulterior motive she had when inviting Eileen over. This twist is so unexpected that I literally gasped (I am dramatic so take that with a grain of salt).
The question on everyone’s mind: do I recommend “Eileen?” My answer: while it is not my favorite Moshfegh book (I’m looking at you “My Year of Rest and Relaxation”), it captures her essence as a writer. “Eileen” is an incredibly detailed portrait of a pained woman who lives in a constant state of self-hatred, while still managing to be an entertaining novel meant for general consumption. So, yes, “Eileen” has the Sad Girl Book Club stamp of approval.
*However, if you are sensitive to topics of sexual assault, then I would suggest reading at your own discretion.*
