10 on a Theme: Unlikable
Stories about women who shatter the stereotype
In 2013, author Claire Messud gave an interview to Publisher's Weekly that went viral. She was promoting her latest novel, The Woman Upstairs, about Nora, an unfulfilled 37-year-old woman who becomes intertwined with the family of one of her students. The interviewer asked Messud if she'd want to be friends with Nora, and this was Messud's response:
For heaven’s sake, what kind of question is that? Would you want to be friends with Humbert Humbert? Would you want to be friends with Mickey Sabbath? Saleem Sinai? Hamlet? Krapp? Oedipus? Oscar Wao? Antigone? Raskolnikov? Any of the characters in The Corrections? Any of the characters in Infinite Jest? Any of the characters in anything Pynchon has ever written? Or Martin Amis? Or Orhan Pamuk? Or Alice Munro, for that matter? If you’re reading to find friends, you’re in deep trouble. We read to find life, in all its possibilities. The relevant question isn’t “is this a potential friend for me?” but “is this character alive?” Nora’s outlook isn’t “unbearably grim” at all. Nora is telling her story in the immediate wake of an enormous betrayal by a friend she has loved dearly. She is deeply upset and angry. But most of the novel is describing a time in which she felt hope, beauty, elation, joy, wonder, anticipation—these are things these friends gave to her, and this is why they mattered so much. Her rage corresponds to the immensity of what she has lost. It doesn’t matter, in a way, whether all those emotions were the result of real interactions or of fantasy, she experienced them fully. And in losing them, has lost happiness.
Messud got some heat for this reply, but I loved how passionately she defended her character and the complicated emotions she felt. I enjoy reading about likable characters, but I also like reading about people who struggle with the same emotions as Nora: anger, despair, and loneliness. I've written before about why I enjoy problematic characters, and I wanted to continue that conversation by doing a 10 on a Theme post about books featuring "unlikable" women. (The unlikable character debate almost always seems to be about women.)
The books on this list feature women who don't fit the ideal vision of what a woman should be. Some of them are childless and unmarried. Others are working entry-level jobs. Some are desperate, sad, and grieving, while some are making terrible choices they know are indeed awful. I love these stories, and I hope you'll come to appreciate some of these women as much as I have. Let's get started with The Woman Upstairs.
As I mentioned above, Nora is unfulfilled. She's an elementary school teacher who yearns to be an artist. When Reza Shahid becomes one of her students, she's drawn into his and his family's life when he gets bullied at school. The Shahids are well-off, attractive, and accomplished people who have the success Nora has only dreamed about. Nora becomes infatuated with the family, which makes a betrayal she faces later on even more challenging to endure. I love Claire Messud's writing and how she crafts such complicated women. The Woman Upstairs got a lot of mixed reviews, but I liked it a lot when I read it in 2013. Give it a try if the plot intrigues you.
Andrea Bern is living an ordinary life. She’s in her late 30s, unmarried, childless, and is working a dead-end job for which she has no passion. Andrea’s not yearning for a husband or baby, though. She treats herself to quality things. Life is progressing normally until her world is shaken up when her niece becomes ill. Andrea sees the cracks in her brother and sister-in-law’s marriage for the first time and watches her mother grow fully obsessed with the baby’s needs. Like all of us, Andrea is complicated. I love this novel because it dares to have a complex woman at its center who is both occasionally frustrating yet entirely relatable. All Grown Up is an utter delight and makes a great place to start if you’ve yet to read Jami Attenberg. She’s brilliant at writing messy families.
Set in Tokyo, this book tells the story of Keiko Furukura, whose parents always thought she was a little bit different. In college, she begins working in a convenience store. Convenience stores in Japan are much bigger and nicer than they are in America, so her employment was especially exciting. When Keiko is in her mid-thirties, she’s still in the same job. She’s single and doesn’t socialize much. Her life is far from what society expects it to be. But for all her quirks, Keiko seems quite comfortable with that. She’s content with the life she’s built. I enjoyed this book and related to the desire for a simple life. I think the pandemic changed the way many of us think about work and what truly fulfills us. If you’re thinking about that a lot, pick up this book.
Hera is a 24-year-old Australian woman having difficulty growing up and keeping a job. She gets a position as a comment moderator for a news organization and feels good about herself, even though she hates the work. She meets Arthur at the office, a journalist in his 40s. Though Hera has been dating women, she's intrigued by Arthur, and her flirtation with him soon becomes the only thing that brings her happiness. Soon, the two embark on a relationship, even though Arthur is married. Hera is convinced she and Arthur will have their happily ever after as soon as Arthur tells his wife it's over.
Green Dot is an amusing exploration of feeling lost in your 20s and being swept away by what you think is true love. Hera and Arthur are making one terrible choice after another, but by the novel's end, Hera experiences some growth that delighted me. She has a sweet relationship with her supportive father, which is another thing I love about this book. Stories about infidelity are understandably polarizing, so I see this book being hit-and-miss with readers. It worked for me, though, because the author captured her characters’ emotions so well.
Matrix tells the story of Marie de France, a 17-year-old girl cast out of the royal court by Eleanor of Aquitaine for being too rough and unsuitable for royal life. Marie is sent to England, where she becomes the prioress of an abbey. This is a new world for this young woman, but she adapts and steps into her new role as a leader, even if it's not a role she wants. Marie experiences divine visions and feels called to turn the poor, rundown abbey into a place where she and her sisters can thrive. If only it were that easy.
As someone who doesn't read much historical fiction, Matrix was out of my comfort zone, but I'm glad I read it. The world crafted by Lauren Groff is utterly absorbing, and I rooted for Marie on every page.
When a woman is said to "have it all," what does that mean? I think of money, a beautiful home, children, good looks, and a handsome husband. The protagonist in My Husband has all of that and more. She's a French woman who's obsessed with her husband. She ignores and gets frustrated by her children because they get in the way of her time with him. Her every move and desire are based on her husband and what will make him happy and keep him close to her. Eventually, the wife's obsession goes too far and risks blowing up the perfect life she's crafted.
I love novels that explore the intricacies of marriage, and My Husband does that quite well. I never knew where the story was going, which I appreciated when I read it. If, like me, you want to read more books in translation, try this French novel that reads like a thriller.
This novel’s protagonist has a life many young women envy. She’s a young, thin, and beautiful blonde who is living in NYC, thanks to her inheritance. She works at an art gallery and has an older man who’s interested in her. She’s unsatisfied and unmotivated, though, and begins seeing a psychiatrist who gives her exactly what she wants: the ability to numb everything she doesn’t want to feel and the chance to just sleep for a year.
What person hasn’t wanted to climb into bed and stay there for an indefinite amount of time? I have, and so does the narrator of My Year of Rest and Relaxation. Grieving the loss of her parents and overwhelmed by the world, a woman decides all she wants is to escape. A premise like this could have gone in many different directions, but Ottessa Moshfegh infuses her novel with compassion, warmth, understanding, and just the right amount of quirk to make this a compelling story that I’m still thinking about, years after I’ve read it.
Piglet goes by the nickname her father gave her as a kid. Despite the condescending name, she's achieved happiness and success. She has a good job, a new home, and is about to get married. Everything changes when, days before the wedding, her fiancé admits to a betrayal. Piglet is determined to go through with the wedding, but her rage and sadness become an all-consuming hunger she can't deny.
Piglet is one of the best novels I've read so far this year. I love the story of a woman exploring her hunger and rage, even when she's so close to getting everything she thought she wanted. I appreciate stories in which flawed women grow and start the journey of coming home to themselves, and Piglet gave that to me.
The Pizza Girl of the title is an 18-year-old who has just finished high school. She’s pregnant and is living with her mom and boyfriend. Both of them love and support her, but she’s not quite sure what to do with their affection. Her father has died, and though his alcoholism made their relationship weak, she’s still feeling the effects of his death. One day, a woman named Jenny calls the pizza place where our heroine works and requests a pie with pepperoni and pickles, the only thing her son will eat. The pizza girl heads to the woman’s house with her order and becomes immediately captivated by Jenny. Fueled by loneliness and uncertainty, Pizza Girl becomes obsessed with Jenny and wonders what another life might look like. I admire the way Jean Kyoung Frazier handled grief mixed with the fear of the unknown. I felt such tenderness toward this young mother-to-be as she faced adult decisions she wasn’t quite ready to meet.
In Study for Obedience, a woman relocates to an unnamed northern country to become her brother's housekeeper. She prioritizes her family, even when she should probably prioritize herself. The woman doesn't know anyone in her new town, and the townspeople are immediately suspicious of this new transplant. Strange things begin to happen, and the newcomer is blamed, raising the tension even more.
Study for Obedience is an odd little story in which there's not much plot. It's a character study of what being an Other means and looks like. Sarah Bernstein is a Canadian writer who writes some long, run-on sentences with words that made me grateful I had a dictionary on my Kindle. I'm not doing a good job of selling this book, but patient readers who enjoy language and quiet stories might like this short novel. I surprised even myself by loving it.
I recently set up a bookshop on Bookshop.org featuring all the titles I’ve recommended on Literary Merit. Your purchase benefits indie bookstores and me, so consider that resource if you’re looking for new reads.
What books would you put on this list? I’d love to hear your ideas. Thanks for reading!
Love this list! I would add the book Treasure Island!!! by Sara Levine to it. (Yes, the three exclamation points are part of the title 🤣)
This Messud quote you found is so good.