An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen: A review

Hendricks/Pekkanen had a unique idea for the plot of their book; a young woman, a make-up artist, in New York needs extra money to help her parents pay for the care of her disabled sister. The young woman, Jessica (Jess), is "doing" one of her clients one day when she hears about a way to earn money by participating in a psychological study. She sees a flyer that reads:

"Seeking women ages 18–32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed."

She learns that her client who had signed up to participate has decided to drop out before the study has actually begun. She decides to present herself as a replacement.

She is accepted and thus begins an experience that will test her resilience and strength of character.

Running the study is a Dr. Shields. The writers tell their story through the perspectives of Jess and Dr. Shields.

Jess finds herself seated at a computer and faced with a series of questions to answer. They are questions designed to elicit her responses as to how she would handle certain questions of ethics and morality. She is admonished to be completely honest. She finds many of the questions challenging. After each session at the computer, some of them continue to haunt her as she goes about her daily activities.

As we get to know Dr. Shields, it slowly becomes apparent that there is more at stake for her than just the completion of a psychological study. We begin to suspect that she has a personal agenda and that she is maneuvering Jess to fit into that agenda in some way. It isn't clear at first just what is going on but it seems evident that it may not be in Jess's best interests.

The pace of the plotting is intended to build suspense slowly and that works pretty well for about half the book; then the slow pace began to lose me and I never really got back on its wavelength through the rest of the story.

One thing that niggled at me and finally began to actively irritate me was the voice of Dr. Shields. Her narrative is told in second person, passive voice throughout and after a while that became annoying to read. I suppose the intent was to keep her character aloof and mysterious. I can't really imagine another reason for that choice, but it just didn't work for me.

The writers deserve kudos for the originality of their plot and the character of Jess is multi-layered and fairly interesting, but overall, I felt the execution left something to be desired.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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