I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

I've now read the book and also listened to the audio book of I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai. I scarcely had a break between my reading of, and listening to, this novel. When it became available, I seized the day, as it had been on hold for some time and, I knew, would probably go back on hold again.

If it isn't clear by now, I really liked this novel. Rarely have I been so entertained by a coming-of-age, campus novel, that also happens to be a page-turning mystery, a crime novel that divides itself between the past and the present, and, uniquely, a commentary on our pod-cast oriented culture. It reminded me of The Secret History by Donna Tartt, only I appreciated the female point of view and the pertinent reflection on certain current crises. 

The story goes like this: Bodie Kane, a film professor and podcaster, mother and wife on the brink of divorce, has kept her complicated past at a distance, in order to move forward and thrive. Then the boarding school she attended during high school invites her to teach a course on campus, and she feels compelled to return. No surprise, from the moment she approaches the remote and beautiful property in New Hampshire, the past is there to meet her, and with a vengeance. Bodie is overwhelmed with memories of her difficult high school years, especially the strange death of her former roommate, Thalia. A man was found guilty of her murder and subsequently imprisoned. Two decades later, he's still behind bars. But Bodie wonders now about his innocence, and, along with a few her students, she falls into an increasingly serious investigation into the case.

This is a novel about community and shared memory, as well as the compulsion to fabricate what we do not remember in order to restore some sense of order. The characters in this book, especially, have mostly come of age, or are nearly there. And yet, the mystery and disorder hidden beneath a thick layer of false assumptions and denial drive them to revise their understanding of who they were then and, above all, who they are now.

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai is a compulsively readable, beautifully written novel, great for summer or, for that matter, any time of year. Give it a chance and I think you'll be hooked.