FICTION

Coming of Age at the End of Days

by Alice LaPlante
Atlantic Monthly. Aug. 2015. 320p. ISBN 9780802121653. $25; ebk. ISBN 9780802191342. F
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Nature and nurture both have let teenager Anna Franklin down. Biology makes her prone to depression and visions. Well-intentioned but emotionally immature parents fascinate and repel her, ultimately harming more than they help. Rudderless and spiraling into despair, Anna is befriended by two young men: Lars, a new neighbor and classmate, connects her to his family's apocalyptic sect and Jim, a twentysomething living in his family's basement, who has his own demons. There are no safe havens and few clues as to whom she can trust. As with LaPlante's previous novels (Turn of Mind; A Circle of Wives), the push and pull of relationships and complexity of unstable personalities create a compelling read. Tension and suspense are heightened through short chapters, terse matter-of-fact prose, and what is left unsaid.
VERDICT Anna's contradictions—her vulnerability and her tendency for making dangerous choices—make her hard to love and her story hard to put down. [See Prepub Alert, 2/23/15.]
Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Davidson Coll. Lib., NC , Jul 01, 2015
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