Her Campus at UOttawa acknowledges that we are on the stolen and unsurrendered land of the Algonquin people.
If you’re on Tik Tok, chances are you’ve come across someone talking about Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation, or at least seen its iconic cover featuring the 1798 painting Portrait of a Young Women in White. While this book’s popularity in her collection is well deserved, her other novels and short stories also deserve your attention. Here’s an introduction to Moshfegh’s most popular works to add to your 2023 reading list.
Eileen
Moshfegh’s first novel, Eileen, focuses on 24-year-old Eileen in the 1960s as she juggles her job at a boy’s detention facility and her alcoholic, mentally-ill father, whom she takes care of in their dilapidated house. We learn about the character’s childhood and the trauma she’s experienced as well as her inner, often disturbing, thoughts. Like a lot of Moshfegh’s work, the content is downright grotesque at times with graphic descriptions, but the lost and confused main character remains somewhat relatable despite them. The introduction of a new employee moves the plot forward with shocking revelations.
My Year of rest and relaxation
The author’s most popular novel on Goodreads is the previously mentioned My Year of Rest and Relaxation, published in 2018 with numerous positive reviews. Set in New York City in the early 2000s, this book involves a complicated and unlikeable protagonist who, after losing her low-paying art job, decides to hibernate in her apartment for a year with the help of medication prescribed by her wacky and even more unlikeable doctor. Like in Eileen, we learn about the protagonist’s background and dysfunctional family ties, and we get insight into her privileged world (thanks to her wealthy parents,) her friendships (or lack thereof with her so-called bestie,) and her relationships. This novel is frustrating, entertaining, and darkly funny.
homesick for another world
Homesick for Another World is a collection of short stories that include a man avoiding his pregnant wife in his family’s remote cabin, a woman in a relationship with a man she clearly dislikes as he tries to become an actor, a man obsessed with the woman who runs an internet cafe, among many other borderline distressing and bleak stories. Each story offers a quick read at around 20 or 30 pages. It’s my personal commute read on my way to class, as each story can be read on the train!
lapvona
While Moshfegh’s previous full novels focused on modern-ish, 20-something women, Lapvona is set in a medieval village, focusing on a young “abused and delusional son of the village shepherd.” Despite the different settings in this novel, the overall mood and tone are distinctively Moshfegh.
death in her hands
Death in Her Hands is centred on an elderly widow who, after a walk with her dog, finds a note claiming the body of a woman killed by an unknown person is nearby. Unable to locate the body, the lonely and distressed protagonist becomes obsessed with solving the mystery.
Not a reader but interested in the stories? You’re in luck, as two of Moshfegh’s novels are set to be released as films! Add Eileen starring Anne Hathaway or My Year of Rest and Relaxation produced by Margot Robbie to your watchlist.