A review by callikat
Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh

dark reflective sad slow-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

3.75

I love how provoking Moshfegh's books can be, this was no exception! The tone you feel throughout the novel is isolation. Vesta is an older widow, who lives miles out in the woods, and is new to town -- she interacts very little with others, and only has her dog Charlie for companionship. You see her reflect on her life, and see she never really fit in before either; always watching from afar, the central character being her husband Walter, who she was very emotionally estranged from.

The only interruption to her routine is the death of a mystery woman "Magda." This is where her vivid imagination plays out, as she builds the entire mystery of what happened. You see Vesta get more and more unwound as the novel goes on. It's a very lonely novel, especially as Vesta reflects on her life and all the missed opportunities -- you can really feel the quiet defeat, up until the end when she finally takes charge.

As always the prose is excellent but I liked this book less than her others. It is basically a steam of consciousness with very little dialogue, and I found it hard to pay attention sometimes.
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