Book Review: “You Know Her” by Meagan Jennett
“All Men Are the Same”
Stephen King commented on his blurb for Chris Pavone’s Two Nights in Lisbon that there was no such thing as a book that you couldn’t put down, but that book in question came close. I’d almost like to challenge King’s assertion because while I did put down Meagan Jennett’s debut literary thriller You Know Her so I could go about my daily business (ie. work, chores, church, etc.), the truth is I didn’t want to. This is a book that is very hard to put down, put away, to not think about. It’s a mixture of the Southern Gothic novel and the serial killer novel — but this time told from the woman’s point of view. With You Know Her, the perpetrator is a woman, not the victim. In flipping gender roles, Jennett has created a terrifying and terrific antagonist in Sophie Braam — a woman who is working as a bartender in a small, remote Virginian village and is seemingly overeducated and underpaid and having to deal with men leering at her. One day, she snaps and winds up killing a man who was sizing her up at the bar. From there, Sophie finds killing idiotic men intoxicating — how’s that for a metaphor? — and simply cannot stop her spree. Closing in on her is a policewoman named Nora Martin, who is becoming something of a friend to Sophie. The book ends explosively, but I won’t spoil it. Suffice it to say that it is open-ended, but it is rather unexpected when it comes to determining the identity of the final victim.
Having given you that plot synopsis, I must say that I’m facing a little bit of writer’s block here. I don’t know what else to say about this novel, except to thrust it into your hands and say, “Read this.” As usual, the less you know about this book, the better you’ll appreciate the twists and turns of this intense thrill-a-minute joyride. Well, maybe calling the book a “thrill-a-minute joyride” is a little bit of a stretch as the book pauses to philosophize on the nature of #MeToo feminism as well as add a bit of literary flavour to this by portraying the mountains of Virginia as a desolate, lonely place where views are nothing but backward. There are no Walmarts or Targets, and there is no local press to speak of — so nobody is there to give attention to these murders except for the male-driven and racist police force. Nora, herself, is of mixed race but identifies as being Black, and so she is something of an outsider as a cop. For instance, no one wants to give her the time of day when she starts suspecting a woman might be behind all these murders of men whose corpses litter the landscape with their tongues cut out and their genitals grossly mutilated.
You may be surprised that someone like me (read: a man) would have enjoyed this book so much. After all, Sophie opines many times throughout the book that “all men are the same” and must be silenced. Of course, I don’t subscribe to that point of view, but I can sympathize with the Sophies of the world. I am aware of my failings as a man and while I’m not going to do a moral inventory of them for you here, You Know Her is a book that really should be read by men to get a sense of where we go wrong in our relations with the opposite sex. This novel shines a spotlight on the abuse that women have to take daily, and also the type of performance they’re asked to play by society to get along nicely and be “good girls” (quotes are mine). This is something that doesn’t always seem apparent to us guys, so I appreciated the viewpoint of how badly men treat women (even in the context of loving relationships), and, to that, I am appreciative that a book such as this exists. As recently as a few years ago, I may have jumped all over a novel such as this one and write it off as reverse-misogynistic, but I’m all the much older and wiser now.
So much for that writer’s block, eh? In any event, You Know Her is a taut book. It’s an important addition to the crime novel and boasts a shocking, well-thought-out ending to boot. The only thing that’s amiss about that ending is that it leaves the door open for a sequel of sorts and doesn’t entirely resolve the story. However, that’s probably not the point. The point is that You Know Her is more about the journey than it is about the destination. It boasts a likeable unlikable main character and is the type of novel that couples may want to read if they want to have a spirited conversation about gender roles in society. In short, You Know Her is a book that readers of police procedurals, crime fiction, thrillers, and literary fiction will want to read (especially if you enjoy all four genres/subgenres). Believe any hype that you might hear about this one — this is a book that has an irresistible pull to it and will have you thinking about it long after you’ve closed the covers while reading it and after reading it. Stephen King is a talented writer, but he’s only human: You Know Her is the sort of book that you’re going to have a very hard time pulling your eyes away from, and if you have a little bundle of time on your hands, you’re going to probably discover that this one is going to keep you up at night, turning the pages to find out how this rapturously resolves. This one is a keeper. And, if you have the time, again, you won’t want to put it down.
Meagan Jennett’s You Know Her was published in trade paperback by Picador on April 2, 2024.
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