A review by documentno_is
The Princess of 72nd Street by Elaine Kraf

adventurous challenging dark funny reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Wow! What a pleasant surprise of a novel- I read it in a single sitting I was so captivated by its prose. I'll say if you're put off by the internal ramblings of an unreliable narrator this one may not be for you but for fans of Woolf, Lispector, etc. this will be a perfect addition to the feminist mentally ill cannon. I will say it's not as densely symbolic as Lispector, in a lot of ways that makes it more readable, more enjoyable, to just let it carry you on an erratic journey of love and pain. I loved how perfectly this novel obfuscated what was reality and what was a manic episode, weaving in and out of reality so delicately that the reader becomes convinced along with the narrator that her illness is a blessing keeping her from mundanity and everyone who comes to visit her is dangerously obsessed with snuffing out her flame. The setting and the imagery of 72nd St were also so potent and real, serving as a strong anchor in a fantasy world. The perfect amount of tension and inevitability sustains until the end of the novel until, in my opinion, it might wrap up a little too nicely but not this didn't put me off so much that I won't think of it as one of my favorites for time to come.