Review : The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
Pages : 64
Genre : Fiction, Short Story
Stand Alone
My Rating : 4/5
About the Book :
On a rainy April morning, she is reading auras at Spiritual Palms when Susan Burke walks in. A keen observer of human behavior, our unnamed narrator immediately diagnoses beautiful, rich Susan as an unhappy woman eager to give her lovely life a drama injection. However, when the “psychic” visits the eerie Victorian home that has been the source of Susan’s terror and grief, she realizes she may not have to pretend to believe in ghosts anymore…
My Thoughts :
This will be a short review for a short story, but I just couldn’t keep quiet about it!
I’ve loved Gillian Flynn’s writing ever since I read Gone Girl all those years ago, and then Sharp Objects. There’s too little of her writing around; in fact, I still haven’t read Dark Places because once I do, I’ll have read all of her words. Therefore, however short it was, The Grownup was a welcome addition to my shelves.
The Grownup starts in typical Gillian Flynn fashion : hard and cleverly written. The unnamed narrator is manipulative, self-interested, formed by a difficult life. She exchanges sexual favors and psychic readings for a living, both of which she succeeds at thanks to her ability to read people. Then she meets Susan, and the real story begins.
The writing was stellar, as expected, and I really enjoyed the story. I admire how Gillian Flynn succeeded in creating such a creepy and claustrophobic setting in so few words, bringing the scenes to life in my head. I liked the characters and the weirdness of the house, the mystery of which hangs between horror and psychological thriller until the very end. My only disappointment was with the conclusion. I don’t mind open ended stories, in fact I welcome them, especially in short fiction. But I was annoyed by the final twists; they piled unto one another, which felt unnecessary to me. I was perfectly pleased with the first “wave” of revelations, and I felt the author got carried away a little bit.
All in all though, I really enjoyed it, and would recommend it to any readers wanting a taste of Gillian Flynn’s writing, old and new fans alike.
Sounds like another winner from Flynn.