Death in Her Hands

By Ottessa Moshfegh

Book Overview

Named a Best Book of the year by Elle, Bustle, and the New York Public Library

From one of our most ceaselessly provocative literary talents, a novel of haunting metaphysical suspense about an elderly widow whose life is upturned when she finds an ominous note on a walk in the woods.

While on her daily walk with her dog in a secluded woods, a woman comes across a note, handwritten and carefully pinned to the ground by stones. "Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn't me. Here is her dead body." But there is no dead body. Our narrator is deeply shaken; she has no idea what to make of this. She is new to this area, alone after the death of her husband, and she knows no one.

Becoming obsessed with solving this mystery, our narrator imagines who Magda was and how she met her fate. With very little to go on, she invents a list of murder suspects and possible motives for the crime. Oddly, her suppositions begin to find correspondences in the real world, and with mounting excitement and dread, the fog of mystery starts to fade into menacing certainty. As her investigation widens, strange dissonances accrue, perhaps associated with the darkness in her own past; we must face the prospect that there is either an innocent explanation for all this or a much more sinister one.

A triumphant blend of horror, suspense, and pitch-black comedy, Death in Her Hands asks us to consider how the stories we tell ourselves both reflect the truth and keep us blind to it. Once again, we are in the hands of a narrator whose unreliability is well earned, and the stakes have never been higher.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1984879375
• ISBN13: 9781984879370
• Release Date: June 2021
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

A Choatic Mind Space

The book begins with a very opinionated, rather pretentious and neurotic elderly lady as she embarks on a new path in life with her beloved dog after the death of her husband. She is faced with a mystery in her new town which mirrors elements to her own past. As the protagonist attempts to uncover the clues to solve the mystery, she is haunted by realization of her memories. The author creates sketch of how terrifying it would be to experiences deep bouts of grief, anxiety and grappling with traumatic awareness of the truths of one's own history. This book is well structured and engaging. However, I do not agree that it would be everyon's cup of tea. The general theme of focused upon loneliness and isolation. The ending was abrupt and rather sad, leaving the reader with little closure. The story remains with the reader due to the protagonist's vulnerability, flaws and even her ordinariness as she descends into a raw and chaotic "mind space". The writing is incredibly well crafted. However, the book loses momentum midway through. The elderly protagonist's rambling inner dialog grew tedious. And, the ending was less than satisfactory due to the suddeness. The writer leaves it rather ambiguous in its resolution.

Definitely not for everyone.

The authors goal was to make you feel both frustrated and confused, which is exactly how I felt. I like a book where you can come up with your own conclusion, which may be why I loved this one so much. If you plan to read this know that a lot is left unexplained and you will not feel satisfied with the ending.

entertaining

i bought this book after loving my year of rest and relaxation. it was pretty interesting, but the ending could’ve been better imo.