OCEAN STATE

Prolific, protean O’Nan examines a familiar subject, hard-pressed working-class life in America, through the lens of a Rhode Island murder.

Ashaway, Rhode Island, in 2009 is a typical postindustrial town; the mill that employed most of its residents is closed, leaving people like Carol to scrabble for a living as a nurse’s aide to support her two teenage daughters. One of them, Marie, opens the novel with these words: “When I was in eighth grade my sister helped kill another girl.” This is not a whodunit but an exploration of why the murder happened; O’Nan tells the story with his characteristic compassion (and artistic boldness) by inhabiting the consciousnesses of four unhappy, conflicted females. Overweight, unpopular Marie is the fearful, helpless observer. Carol wants more for her girls than she has, “but exactly how that will happen she can’t imagine”—so she focuses instead on finding a new boyfriend who’s better than the parade of losers who have earned her eldest daughter Angel’s contempt. Angel can’t see any way out either; her post-graduation future promises little beyond continuing to work in her dead-end after-school job while privileged boyfriend Myles heads for college and “she’ll lose him to some rich girl.” Actually, Myles is already cheating on her with Birdy, the victim-to-be, whose lovestruck perspective is the fourth narrative strand. But she’s no rich girl; Birdy and Angel are more alike than different, frustrated and obsessing about a boy who doesn’t seem worth it. Seen only through others’ eyes, Myles’ role in the ensuing tragedy remains murky. The novel’s main thrust is also unclear; Marie’s closing monologue suggests themes of memory and identity that weren’t particularly evident as the story progressed. However, the book is rich in social detail, including the teenagers’ socially networked world, and warmed by O’Nan’s customary tenderness for ordinary lives. Everyday People was the title of one of his first great novels, in 2001, and depicting everyday people with sensitive acuity remains one of his principal artistic achievements here.

Not one of this gifted author’s best, though it’s finely rendered with poignant realism.