Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott

   Bury Me Deep was fantastic! Written with breathless, run-on sentences and wonderful fragments, Megan Abbott draws you in and keeps you reading until the book is done. The story is based on a true one that took place in 1931.
   The tale stars Marion, a sheltered young wife, left alone in a strange city while her husband works in Mexico. In smaller billing are Lousie and Ginny, two good-time girls with well earned, questionable reputations and no qualms about earning a living and "Gent" Joe Lanigan, the obligatory man's man who runs the town behind and in front of the scenes. A pivotal cameo is put in by Dr. Seeley, Marion's husband.
   Marion, at first naively drawn into the circle, later purposely shuts her eyes so that she can stay in it. There is no good ending for any of the characters. There are no good characters, though some of them have redeeming traits that keep you from despising them.
   Ms. Abbott's writes the way people think; a healthy contempt for the proper use of commas, semicolons and periods, not to mention a callous disregard for complete sentences. Her style makes Marion come off the pages in a way that allows you to feel her awe, uneasiness, doubt and grasping. All of the characters snap with realism and never fall flat.
   If you're wondering what the story is actually about, well, c'mon, I told you there was a lonely married woman befriended by girls determined to thumb their noses at all things polite, who also know someone named Gent Joe. What you think is going to happen will, what you think couldn't happen don't be too sure of.

Favorite Quotes:

"Ride a while and smile the while, dontcha know."

"The music hammered at her and the floors felt sodden with champagne and maybe it wasn't so different from Louise and Ginny's and yet it was. It was. It was because that was their party and this was not. This was not. It was something else and it felt a little bit like these girls had, stiff-faced and cold-eyed, punched a clock."

"The feckless words whistling in her ear, and before she could think, her arm lifted again and she pointed this time at him, trying to rise, shirtfront showgirl-spangled."

Overall Opinion:

Did I say it was fantastic?! Ms. Abbott also offers the additional gift of a synopsis of the true story her book is based on. Yay.

Rating:

Recommended Reading