Eileen

Set against the bleak backdrop of 1960s New England, Ottessa Moshfegh's 'Eileen' introduces us to its titular protagonist, a deeply disturbed young woman trapped in a life of drudgery and quiet desperation. Eileen Dunlop spends her days working as a secretary at a boys' prison, where her fantasies often border on the macabre, and her nights caring for her alcoholic, abusive father. Her existence is marked by shoplifting, voyeurism, and a simmering, unacknowledged rage. The arrival of the beautiful, sophisticated, and utterly charismatic Rebecca Saint John, the new education director at the prison, shatters Eileen's monotonous routine. Enchanted and drawn into Rebecca's orbit, Eileen finds herself experiencing an intense, almost obsessive admiration, mistaking Rebecca's attention for genuine friendship. However, this magnetic connection slowly pulls Eileen into a dark, shocking crime that far exceeds her wildest, most twisted imaginings, irrevocably altering her life and forcing her to confront the true depths of her own complicity and desires. The novel is a masterclass in unreliable narration and psychological suspense.