Ottessa Moshfegh’s Death in Her Hands follows the chaotic conspiratorial thinking of a 72-year-old woman named Vesta Gul after she finds an anonymously written note on the ground in the woods stating that a woman named Magda is dead.
After the mysterious inciting incident, the actual things that happen for the bulk of this book include Vesta going on walks, going to the library, and going to the store. Most of this book is literally the paranoid imaginings of this character, what she thinks the victim was like, what the note writer was like, who the killer might be, and just about every detail surrounding the crime. It’s deeply concerning, sad, interesting, and funny. Vesta is such a well-rounded character, empathetic despite her glaring flaws, and incredibly human. She’s (unfortunately) relatable in her anxiety and (fortunately) not relatable in the extents to takes these ideas. Once she makes a guess about how something was, she then believes it for fact, leading to a downward and self-destructive spiral.
On its face, it’s a kind of a murder mystery; it’s really about paranoia and loneliness; even further under the surface, there are more complex themes about relationships, religion, and life and death. Despite just living in this character’s brain for 300 odd pages, the book never reveals its full hand. Instead Moshfegh obscures her true intentions, themes, and makes you question whether the events were real or fictitious, which also makes for an interesting reflection on fiction writing itself.
It feels like Moshfegh spent weeks on end in a nursing home to embody the mind of an elderly person. It kind of felt like how some older people get sucked into conspiracy theories, such as QAnon, when they are desperate to be part of something larger than themselves. While the ending of this book is crazy, it’s not as crazy as some of her other works (such as that one time 9/11 happened out of nowhere).
I hope when I’m in my 70s, I’m at least twice as crazy as Vesta is in this book. I want to be that person in my town that everyone has to talk about. I’m trying to make huge scenes at bingo night and city hall. Did you hear old man Ryan snuck into the dog pound and set all the hounds loose? Yeah, then he taped knives to all their hands, so you can’t even pet them. Please remember to call your grandparents.
5/5