Justine Libaire’s White Fur is a 1980s take on a Romeo and Juliet style story. Jamey is a Yale student from a well-known, wealthy family when he meets Elise who lives next door to the off-campus home Jamey and his best friend rent. Elise never finished high school and was homeless until Jamey’s neighbor took pity on her. Their attraction is primal and the relationship is fraught with issues, especially once Jamey’s family learns of Elise.
White Fur is told in snippets of Jamey and Elise’s life together. Some parts are the mundanity of living while others are life-altering bombshells. While the plotting is stellar, Libaire relies a little too much on stereotypes. It also seemed Elise’s white fur coat (that she got from a drug addicted woman in exchange for potato chips) was supposed to be a contrast of privilege, but it doesn’t really go anywhere. For as frequently as it’s brought up (and given that it’s where the title comes from), it seemed Libaire wanted the coat to have more significance than her storytelling gave it. Despite those faults, the novel is a great read. In the final chapters White Fur really comes into its own with a number of shocking developments that give Jamey and Elise their own tragic ending.
4/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment