"Eileen" and character development

A review where I also discuss the book's influence on my personal writing journey.

I really loved this book!

I read it because I was a big fan of “My Year of Rest and Relaxation,” and I think Moshfegh is a fascinating writer. I appreciate how she digs deep into a character’s mind with such detail that they feel like real people. She seems to especially show compassion for characters deemed “unlikable.”

The book explores the social deprivation and isolation of 24-year-old Eileen Dunlop from the perspective of her future self. It’s the 1960’s, her mom is dead, she works at a depressing prison for boys, and she spends her alcoholic father.

Moshfegh makes Eileen’s dull life interesting by bringing attention to her physical appearance. A young, mousy girl whose lipstick is the wrong color, her hair unbrushed, body odor from lack of washing. Her house has a layer of dust and clutter strewn everywhere. The town is a gray wasteland of New England winter and poverty. Eileen is someone who, as a reader, I can very clearly see.

I’m writing a book where my protagonist has similar traumas to Eileen; based on my own experiences. Writing myself as not myself is challenging because it’s hard for me to see the character. I needed some good examples of vivid character descriptions and development, and “Eileen” did not disappoint.

What I’m taking away from this, as a writer, is that there is almost no limit to how much you can describe a character as they move through a story. It was also just enjoyable to read on its own. I am very excited to get working on narrating my character’s body as it moves through the story.