Retelling

by Tsipi Keller, Scott Neary (Illustrator)

The mystery of who butchered ethereally beautiful and pregnant Elsbeth is at the heart of Keller's elegant and spooky second novel (part of a trilogy, after Jackpot). Was it the traumatized and fragile narrator, Sally, whose friendship with the dead woman verged on the obsessive? Or was it Elsbeth's arrogant and demanding boyfriend, Drew, who resented Sally's relationship with her? Keller flirts with the answer as her novel slips back and forth through time to depict tantalizing glimpses of possible truths filtered through Sally's uncertain memories. As her emotions unravel, Sally finds solace in the gentlemen who play chess in the park where she breakfasts, and maintains, however fitfully, an uneasy reliance on Lydia, a self-centered and mean-spirited friend who thinks Sally is better off with Elsbeth dead. The police, bent on extracting a confession from Sally, harangue her during increasingly abusive interrogation sessions that provide her a forum for creepily pondering her (questionable) innocence. This opaque yet beguiling novel showcases the work of a talented and original writer. (July) Copyright (c) Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Paperback

First published June 30, 2006

Reviews

[Melanie Page · Rating 2 out of 5]

My review for Retelling is now live at Grab the Lapels. This was my least favorite book in Keller's "trilogy," but I highly recommend you read Elsa and Jackpot!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

As in "Jackpot" Keller again portrays a single NY woman's psychological disintegration. The way Keller combines a Proustian attention to detail with a Kafkaesque plot and her own insights about friendship and loneliness makes for compelling reading and rewarding rereading.

[Ayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joel says this has the worst book cover he has ever seen.

[Cooper Renner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stream-of-consciousness tour-de-force: a tale of a tight friendship, a denotation of the ordinary habits of life, and a murder investigation all woven together in the narrator's mind.