Editorial Content for Bad Animals
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Reviewer (text)
A troubled teen named Libby has accused Maeve Cosgrove, a middle-aged Maine librarian, of spying on her in the library bathroom. Despite her protestations of innocence, Maeve loses her job. But then along comes Harrison Riddles, the author who Maeve had invited to talk at the library and finally has decided to accept.
"[T]his is a novel about the creative mind. Who better to explicate that than an author and his librarian?"
Riddles has another agenda, which is to write a novel about Maeve’s Sudanese friend, Willie. In that pursuit, he seduces Maeve into becoming his go-between, therapist and, ultimately, lover. Adrift without her identity in a community where she was known first as a wife, then a mother and finally a beloved librarian, she’s a willing accomplice.
There are plenty of other characters wafting about these pages: Maeve’s good-natured husband, Jack, who is conveniently out of town looking after his mother; Riddles’ wife, who is working on a play and also is off-site; Willie’s girlfriend, who is feeling increasingly de trop and anxious; and, sadly, Maeve and Jack’s daughter, Paige, who seems to have left the nest for good.
Much of BAD ANIMALS revolves around Riddles and his oft-voiced needs, but underlying those are Maeve’s own needs that demand they be addressed as she tends to those around her. Sarah Braunstein is a deft writer, so everything in the book is used to effect as the plot (such as it is) unfolds.
One could quibble at the endless conversations between Maeve and Riddles, or Maeve’s obsessive focus on the teen who confronted her at the library. But, in the end, they help explain a lot. They illuminate each character’s stated versus felt motivation, as well as how authors write and readers read. Both double back again to understand just what they’re experiencing.
After all, this is a novel about the creative mind. Who better to explicate that than an author and his librarian?
Teaser
Now that her brilliant botanist daughter is off at college, Maeve Cosgrove loves her job at a quiet Maine public library more than anything. But when a teenager accuses Maeve of spying on her romantic escapades in the mezzanine bathroom, she winds up laid off and humiliated. Stuck at home in a tailspin, Maeve cares for the mysterious plants in her daughter’s greenhouse while obsessing over the clearly troubled girl at the source of the rumor. She hopes to have a powerful ally in her attempts to clear her name: her favorite author, Harrison Riddles, who has finally responded to her adoring letters and accepted an invitation to speak at the library. Riddles, meanwhile, announces a plan to write a novel about another young library patron, Sudanese refugee Willie, and enlists Maeve’s help in convincing him to participate.
Promo
Now that her brilliant botanist daughter is off at college, Maeve Cosgrove loves her job at a quiet Maine public library more than anything. But when a teenager accuses Maeve of spying on her romantic escapades in the mezzanine bathroom, she winds up laid off and humiliated. Stuck at home in a tailspin, Maeve cares for the mysterious plants in her daughter’s greenhouse while obsessing over the clearly troubled girl at the source of the rumor. She hopes to have a powerful ally in her attempts to clear her name: her favorite author, Harrison Riddles, who has finally responded to her adoring letters and accepted an invitation to speak at the library. Riddles, meanwhile, announces a plan to write a novel about another young library patron, Sudanese refugee Willie, and enlists Maeve’s help in convincing him to participate.
About the Book
A sexy, propulsive novel that confronts the limits of empathy and the perils of appropriation through the eyes of a disgraced small-town librarian.
Now that her brilliant botanist daughter is off at college, buttoned-up Maeve Cosgrove loves her job at a quiet Maine public library more than anything. But when a teenager accuses Maeve --- Maeve! --- of spying on her romantic escapades in the mezzanine bathroom, she winds up laid off and humiliated. Stuck at home in a tailspin, Maeve cares for the mysterious plants in her daughter’s greenhouse while obsessing over the clearly troubled girl at the source of the rumor. She hopes to have a powerful ally in her attempts to clear her name: her favorite author, Harrison Riddles, who has finally responded to her adoring letters and accepted an invitation to speak at the library.
Riddles, meanwhile, arrives in town with his own agenda. He announces a plan to write a novel about another young library patron, Sudanese refugee Willie, and enlists Maeve’s help in convincing him to participate. Maeve wants to look out for Willie, but Riddles’ charisma and the sheen of literary glory he promises are difficult to resist. A scheme to get her job back draws Maeve further into Riddles’ universe --- where shocking questions about sex, morality and the purpose of literature threaten to upend her orderly life.
A writer of “savage compassion” (Salvatore Scibona, author of THE VOLUNTEER), Sarah Braunstein constructs a shrewd, page-turning caper that explores one woman’s search for agency and ultimate reckoning with the kind of animal she is.
Audiobook available, read by Carolyn Jania
