BAD MARIE by Marcy Dermansky
Friday, November 12, 2010 at 04:03PM Review by Melissa
In my life, with an extremely limited number of exceptions, I have always been Good Melissa. I don't go off the beaten path, I follow the rules, I loathe being in trouble. My words to our 5 year old upon getting a note from her teacher about a lunchroom incident: "We are NOT the kind of family that gets notes sent home about them."
This instantly engaging story is about Marie, a woman who seems to have a lifetime of misbehavior in the rearview mirror (and on Google Maps of the highway in front of her as well.) When we meet her, she is nannying for a childhood friend, one inexplicably willing to give her a job after Marie's recent exit from prison after a six year term (for an unladylike accessory to murder charge thanks to fallout from a boyfriend's botched robbery.) In prison, she read and reread a book by French author Benoit Doniel...who just happens to be the father of her young charge. Imagine what the eponymous character in a book titled BAD MARIE might do in a situation like this, and thus begins a 200+ page romp through a whirlwind week in Marie's life. What in another book might seem an improbable plot twist seems completely plausible when it involves Marie.
Marcy Dermansky has crafted a character in Marie that is the best kind of magnetic--you want to slap her (as her employer does at one point) and go out for tequila shots with her at the same time. My suggestion recently was to get Marie and Hugo from Kate Christensen's THE EPICURE'S LAMENT together, a literary combustion of the best Likable Unlikable Characters of the last two years of my reading. Antonya Nelson says it best: "Dermansky challenges the reader to finally and forever denounce her character Marie. The fact that this reader can't is testament to the book's power and smarts."
At the heart of what makes the naughty Marie lovable is her relationship with her young charge. Caitlin is the only person Marie has truly loved. Although Marie makes some intensely poor decisions around what she does with Caitlin--let's just say, the unwritten epilogue would undoubtedly involve Interpol--she clearly loves her deeply. Having spent many of her formative years in prison due to a crime committed for "love"--this is the only attachment she seems to have in her life that is normal and pure. Her love for Caitlin was a dichotomy--it was redemptive of her as a person, but ultimately was leading her back into a life of criminal behavior.
Because Marcy Dermansky is a film critic as well as a talented author, I feel like I am completely within my rights to engage in my usual reading pastime of "Be the Casting Agent for This Book." When I do this, in almost every single book I read, I typically think of established actors from current movies--"oh, this seems very Reese-Witherspoony to me," etc. This book, however, made me think of people from extremely far-flung parts of the world. The person that popped into my head IMMEDIATELY for Benoit Doniel was the new husband of the Swedish Crown Princess Victoria. (Before you tell me to please, get a life, I received a "Visit Sweden" mailer recently that had concentrated mostly on the Swedish royal wedding. Forgive me.) I could not help but envision my own towheaded 3 year old daughter as Caitlin, a similarity largely cemeted because throughout, Marie calls her Caty Bean--from birth, my brother has called my daughter E-Bean. Caitlin, of course, will be my daughter's first film role (of many, duh. Mama wants to go to the Oscars some day.) I see in Marie the perfect role for one of my favorites, Amanda Seyfried (emotional reaction to the recent cancellation of Big Love? Perhaps.) I could play this game all day...but ultimately, I'd rather hear who Ms. Dermansky would choose.
I actually believe that she is not Bad Marie, but Misunderstood Marie. And I loved every word of her story. I'd go back on this ride any day.
FTC disclosure: I did receive a copy of this book from Harper Perennial, but it was so good it's now going to be purchased as a Christmas gift for a few people I know. So there.
Reader Comments (4)
This is my first time on your blog and I'm so happy I've found it!
What a great review. I'll put that on my TBR list!
I enjoyed Melissa's review. It further illustrates that M. Dermansky's book offers a million ways to get into it. It is so visual but still uses a literary means to give and subtract emphases to certain passages. In other words, the author is developing her own kind of visualized literature, that certainly holds a special fascination.