Come On Eileen

Eileen, Ottessa Moshfegh's debut novel, was the first book I read in 2016.  It's a sinister, dark, intriguing story of a young woman who lives with her alcoholic father and works at a boys' prison in a wintry New England town.  With an aura of Hitchcock, Poe, and Highsmith, but in a voice all her own, Moshfegh weaves an unforgettably twisted bildungsroman, as Eileen discovers her own strengths and vulnerabilities, and also unearths the lengths she will go to escape the grit and claustrophobia of her life. It's unnerving and compelling, even cringe worthy, and I couldn't put it down.  Plus, I'll never think of icicles in the same way again (luckily I'm not often contemplating them given my California life)!