A review by tiredtannah
The Shame by Makenna Goodman

challenging reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a novel about a woman who is trapped in her own isolation, grappling to preserve a sense of identity and desires as an individual whilst being a mother and a wife. She begins writing a book about an idealised version of herself, where she gets to live out a life she couldn’t have or wouldn’t do - letting her character says things she would never be brave enough to and wear clothes that she could not afford herself. She begins to craft this character off a “model”, a social media influencer who she quickly becomes obsessed with. As the parasocial relationship turns from vicariously living through the woman’s posts to a psychological attachment that results in her stalking the woman, her character, who she has named ‘Celeste’. The novel debates questions of loneliness, of sacrifice, of the confines within and of our relationships and our identity as people to them, and the emotions of a woman trapped inside her own psychosis. 

I really enjoyed this, but it was a mind fuck for sure. What I loved is that she debated taking the writing job because of her morals, and in the end we do not get confirmation from her, but rather we read the story that she has written. The novel also ends in a similar way that it began, with her returning to her family after attempting to leave, becoming cyclical of patterns of psychosis. This was really well written, with apt and honest characterisation of emotions and feelings that are oftentimes hard to admit to. However, some aspects of this may be unmemorable. I probably won’t remember much about this novel, other than that it was good.