One Folgate Street has won architectural awards and is filled with state of the art technology for the ultimate living experience. There are only two catches: first, there’s a 200 question application form and interview, with the architect having veto power over potential tenants; and second, there’s a list of rules you must follow to remain a tenant. Leave no clutter on the floor, allow the architecture firm to track your biometric data to help them optimize the living experience for future tenants.

It sounds like the beginning of a futuristic sci-fi thriller, but The Girl Before is set in the present day, with an architect that’s super handsome and talented, but the most controlling and anal retentive man in fiction since Christian Grey brandished his leather whip. Unlike Mr. Grey however, there is nothing remotely seductive about Edward Monkford, and his demands seem more a pathological inability to deal with clutter than a desire to be dominant. It’s certainly not a house I can live in, architectural awards be damned. Even the Internet is controlled, with a customized browser that provides a more filtered list of search results than Google.

Yet it’s an irresistible lure to persons who desire to have more control. The Girl Before tells the story of two such tenants: Emma who was robbed at knifepoint at her old house and is reassured by the extensive security measures of One Folgate (you unlock doors with a cellphone app, and no one else — except for the architect — can enter without your approval); and Jane who recently lost a child. Jane then learns about the previous tenant’s mysterious death, and unknowingly falls into the same pattern of behaviour. As both women’s stories unfold, we see how the house and the men in their lives play a part in propelling them both to a potentially shared destiny.

The story starts off very strong. Delaney does a good job in establishing the creep factor with both Edward’s brand of charm and the house’s oppressive nature. As Jane works around the house’s security (read: censorship) features to learn more about her predecessor’s life and death, various plot threads twist and unravel, so that we gradually get a fuller picture of characters we thought we already knew.

The big reveal was a bit of a disappointment. I can understand Delaney’s decision as a thriller writer to turn the story in that direction, and I appreciate how the author shows multiple kinds of menace. But it almost felt anticlimactic and one of the characters seemed full of wasted potential. (See my thoughts on the ending below for more details. IGNORE if you want to AVOID SPOILERS.)

Overall, The Girl Before is an entertaining, fast paced thriller that’ll keep you turning the page and guessing about what happens next. The house with its oppressive set of rules and stifling fancy technology is a great setting and easily keeps the tension ratcheted up throughout.

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Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

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***SPOILER*** My Thoughts on the Ending

I felt the character of Edward Monkford was wasted at the end when it turns out that Simon was the murdered. Edward was set up as such a creepy controlling potential psychopath, and so having him turn out to be innocent (still creepy, but not a murderer) kinda just made him feel lame at the end. Simon as the bad guy wasn’t completely unexpected — many women know how dangerous that “nice guy” puppy dog type of man can be — and I actually appreciated that Delaney tackled this type of bad guy, but I wish we’d had more of a sense of menace from him earlier on, so that when he’s revealed as the killer, there’s a bit of relief at knowing he was unveiled. Instead, it felt somewhat anticlimactic.

Looking for a job has got to be one of the most stressful things to do. You’re selling yourself to dozens of companies, polishing your resume to an impressive sheen and trying to craft dozens of versions of the perfect cover letter that you know will catch the eye of prospective employers. How often have you written the nth cover letter and been tempted to just say, screw it, and pour out all your pent up frustrations on the page?

Overqualifieder is Joey Comeau’s response to that experience, a collection of job application cover letters by personas Comeau has created. Each letter is like a bit of flash fiction, where the letter writer begins by asking for a job then ends up veering off into venting about his personal life. Unlike the first volume, Overqualified, this book is simply a collection of letters without a hidden narrative. I personally would have preferred a hidden narrative — some of the letters are amusing, but after a while begin to feel repetitive. As a collection of unrelated letters, the book is likely designed to be dipped into once in a while rather than read from cover to cover, but even then, each letter feels like a one-off chuckle at best.

That being said, some of the letters are amusing. For example, a letter to “Security Services” starts off saying that the writer supports their policy not to hire convicted thieves, then ends up with the writer confessing to murdering a friend. Comeau writes:

I am a man of my word, and I have strong convictions. You will not find a more honest and trustworthy employee anywhere. I murdered Jimmy with a kitchen knife, and I would do it again. [p. 46]

In another letter, this time applying to be a freelance journalist at The Herald, Comeau writes:

My major publication credits include small pieces in the New York Times and the Observer. I worked as an intern with Forbes magazine for whatever you consider an impressive amount of time. I just recently finished a brief stint working as copy editor of [THE BIGGEST NEWSPAPER I CAN THINK OF — the Wall Street Journal? Will they believe that?] [p. 47]

Others fall flat, at least for me. For example, an application to Disney for any position, says:

Yesterday was my three-month anniversary of looking for work, and my dad says that I can’t find a job because I’m not a gay, crippled immigrant, so you can understand why it’d be nice to move out. [p. 9]

Comeau’s personas range from desperately under-qualified applicants to thieves and killers, and I found the letters mildly amusing overall, with a couple that are hilarious or incisive. This book will likely strike a chord in anyone who’s ever been frustrated while job hunting, but I think Overqualified may be a better read, just because a hidden narrative may make it feel less repetitive.

As an aside, kudos to the cover designer of this book. I love the cover!

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Thank you to ECW Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited about this book because I loved “Brokeback Mountain” (movie and story), I’d heard Annie Proulx is an amazing writer, and I enjoy immersing myself in a sweeping historical epic. Unfortunately, Barkskins just wasn’t for me, and I ended up deciding not to finish a bit over a quarter through.

At over 700 pages, Barkskins certainly has the potential to be a book to lose yourself in. It begins with the story of two penniless Frenchmen, Rene Sel and Charles Duquet, who move to Canada to make their fortunes. They start off as woodcutters, making money for a seigneur for some time before being given land of their own. Sel accepts this role and has a difficult life as a woodcutter. He is also made to marry his boss’s lover, an older Mi’kmaw woman, who was probably my favourite character because she was always so practical no matter the situation. Duquet escapes the seigneur and becomes a business person, trading fur then lumber. The story continues on to their descendants, and the struggles they faced, and all their fortunes are somehow tied back to lumber. I figure if I keep reading, the Sel family’s indigenous heritage will play a big role, as will an environmental message around preserving our forests.

There are interesting threads throughout the story, and some interesting characters, but either they are simply mentioned then discarded or they are so buried from so many other threads and characters that it’s hard to keep track. For example, I was just becoming interested in a character’s life, when their life was abruptly summarized and ended in the space of a page, and I had to find another character to become invested in. I realize that is part and parcel of a multi-generational epic, but I ended up not being all that interested in how the stories turn out.

That being said, I can imagine this story completely enthralling other readers, who may perhaps be more interested in the topics it explores than I am. There’s also the possibility that it becomes more interesting past the part I’ve read. So if you’re a big fan of Proulx’s work, or something in the overview above totally piqued your interest, by all means, give this a shot. It’s a well-written book, and the very attention to detail that made this a struggle for me may very well be what makes another reader lose themselves in the text. It’s just time I move on.

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Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.