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Dark, dark and darker!! I have never read anything quite like "Eileen" and I was fascinated by it, but this is not a book with mass appeal and I can't say that I loved it. This author is one hell of a writer, though. I was in awe of her unique and evocative prose. Beyond that, the draw of the novel "Eileen" is that it is a character study of a woman who is mentally ill, likely, at least in part, as a product of the neglect and sexual, emotional, and verbal abuse she is subjected to throughout her childhood. Much of this is alluded to cleverly and depicted through its manifestations in the character's self-loathing, disordered eating /cognitions, contempt for her body and burgeoning sexuality , and her simultaneous fixation with and abhorrence of copulation. We are privy to the emotional and verbal abuse of Eileen's alcoholic father at the time of the story but learn little of the previous child abuse, mostly through small clues the character seems to almost inadvertently reveal. I thought this was a brilliant way of showing the reader that, even 50 years later, Eileen hasn't come to terms with everything that happened to her; there is still some denial. Even though Eileen narrates the story as a purported "tell all", allowing us into the dark intricacies of her mind, she is still holding back from us that which she perhaps cannot bear to fully reveal to herself. So true to the human psyche and so very well done. This allowed me to have some compassion for Eileen even though I was disgusted by her. It's true that there is not a single likable character in the novel, as many reviews have stated, but that may be a product of the narrator's perspective. She hates herself and everyone else, therefore, we hate them all through her eyes. I don't mind disliking the characters in the book I'm reading if it's clear that I'm not supposed to like them. It only bothers me when I can tell I'm supposed to like them but can't stand them anyway, like what I've found with one too many hackneyed, chick lit heroines.

Now onto what I didn't like about "Eileen". I found the climax of the novel, or "twist" at the end surprising but disappointing. I felt like, "That's it?" I wanted the crime to be more interesting and more integral to the story. I also found the denouement unsatisfying. I craved a little more insight into Rebecca; more context for some of the aspects of her character that I had expected were false and were never explained. I found that aspect lacking, but, ultimately these quibbles didn't matter too much because what I loved about this book was the writing and spending time in protagonist's twisted brain.