The Big Girls doesn't grab you so much as seduce you into reading it. The story is about four people whose lives overlap in odd and interesting ways. It tackles issues like family, fortune (or the lack of it), coincidence and fate.
The Set Up
The book starts off from the point of view of Dr. Louise Forrest, the new chief of psychiatry at a women's prison. The narrative then switches to Helen, a schizophrenic inmate who's committed a crime so heinous, she's kept apart from the other prisoners at first. Helen is obsessed with contacting Angie, an ambitious Hollywood actress, who happens to be dating Dr. Forrest's ex-husband. Dr. Forrest eventually hooks up with Ike Bradshaw, a no-nonsense prison guard.
The story focuses primarily on Dr. Forrest and Helen, at first. The other two main characters' perspectives get included in time. Together, the narratives combine to create a compelling and ambitious overall story – one that explores each character's demons and the gritty realities of prison life.
Layers of Different Perceptions
The narrative shifts among the four characters, and each point of view adds a layer of different perceptions about the same events. Dr. Forrest grows to think of Helen as a friend. Ike thinks Dr. Forrest is naive. Helen's thoughts are such a jumble, yet despite her delusions, in many ways her perceptions are so clear – and she's so unforgiving of her own mistakes. The contrast between Helen's situation and Angie's is delineated in ironic detail. Both women share unhappy childhoods, but turned out so differently.
Since Helen is delusional, the question is raised: how reliable is Helen as a narrator? This point becomes crucial later in the story, when the four people's worlds collide due to a revelation Helen makes.
Luck and Fate
Susanna Moore writes with such careful detail and empathy about the prison and the characters – even Helen's fellow prisoners and other minor characters are fully realized human beings. Dr. Forrest also has a son who creates complications that affect three main characters and contribute to their coming together. Through the shifting narratives, the book explores prison life, psychiatry, family issues and celebrity culture. The story's scope is amazing. It packs a lot of punch for a slim novel of 224 pages. The book's jarring climax and denouement may seem too coincidental, at first. But a later explanation puts it in perspective.
The book works as a critique of the law, the justice and prison systems, psychiatry, family values and society, in general. However, the greater issues are: Why are some people so lucky and others not? And where does fate fit into this? The questions aren't answered, but they are tantalizingly posed.
The Big Girls Knopf (May 1, 2007), ISBN: 978-1-4000-4190-9
 |
