Review of WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST by Alina Grabowski (New Release)

 3.5 Stars

I found it difficult to engage with this book; parts captivated me but others left me bored.

In Nashquitten, Massachusetts, a fictional coastal community, teenaged Lucy Anderson dies at a house party after a fall.  The circumstances around her death are not clear: Was it an accident?  Was it caused by a medical emergency?  Was it suicide?  Was she deliberately pushed?

The novel is divided into two sections:  Pre and Post.  Various women and teenaged girls, five in each section, speak about their lives before and after Lucy’s death.  All ten are connected to Lucy, some very closely and some more peripherally.  For instance, we hear from the president of the PTA at Lucy’s school, Lucy’s best friend, and Lucy’s mother.  Sometimes characters will reappear.  Jane is the first narrator in the Pre section, but she makes a cameo in the third chapter and is a character in the fourth Post story.  The principal of Lucy’s school is not one of the ten narrators but drifts in and out of several chapters.  Sometimes a character appears but is not clearly identified until later; this is the case with Maureen who actually talks to Jane in the first chapter though she is unnamed until she narrates the eighth chapter.

There is the mystery of how Lucy fell to her death, and people do speculate about assigning blame. Though there is no definite conclusion, the addition of perspectives negates some theories.  But there are other mysteries:  Why does Layla advise Sophia to write about her mother in her university application essay?  What is in the video posted about Lucy and who is responsible for it?  What will happen to Robert Taylor?  Why is Eric sent home from his part-time job?  Finding the answers for these questions does provide motivation to continue reading.

As the title implies, the focus is on women and girls.  The book does touch on some of the difficulties of being female in a small community where everyone knows everyone or thinks they know everything about everyone.  Virtually all the females are aware of societal expectations and judgments.  Anonymity and privacy are virtually impossible and reputations quickly ruined.  Two observations made by the PTA CEO really caught my attention; looking at a mural of the Virgin Mary, she muses “You know a man conceived her because she has this empty, faux-serene expression on her face that conveys absolutely nothing besides:  I am here to sacrifice.  A miserable image.”   And she also thinks that “a girl and a child are not the same.  A child is a pet.  A girl is prey.” 

Men remain secondary characters and often are not portrayed positively.  There are two male teachers who have inappropriate relationships with students.  Natalie works for “the founder” who is psychologically abusive.  Rae’s poet is manipulative.  Jane is being raised by a single mother.  Maureen is a single mother.  But the female characters are also not always likeable.  Mothers (Jane’s and Olivia’s and Sophia’s and Emma’s) often behave in ways that negatively impact their children.  All this is to say that the author has excelled at characterization; everyone is complex and flawed. 

The theme that is strongest for me is the interconnectedness amongst people.  Donne’s “No Man is an Island” even came to mind.  What one person does can impact many others.  Certainly, Lucy’s death affects many people, even some who barely knew her.  All of the characters are connected in some way.  I wish I had kept a chart of the connections among the various characters because one character often has connections with several others:  Rae is Mona’s friend; Rae’s landlady is Maureen; and Rae serves Brynn at the bar.  The theory of six degrees of separation also came to mind:  Natalie’s best friend is Mona; Mona knows Rae and works with Marina; Marina is at the party with Lucy, Brynn’s daughter, and Olivia; Olivia is the daughter of the principal who fires Layla, Mona’s roommate; Layla counsels Sophia, Lucy’s best friend; Sophia becomes friends with Jane; Jane has an encounter with Maureen, Rae’s landlady.

This book probably deserves a re-read because I’m certain I’ve missed important ideas and connections.  Some of my questions are unanswered:  Why does Rae hate trains?  This book is not an escapist read; its disjointed structure requires the reader to concentrate in order to see links.  Unfortunately, I found some of the chapters tedious and the subject matter rather dark so I have no desire to do a second reading at this time. 

Note:  I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.