Book Review: "Death in Her Hands" by Ottessa Moshfegh

So far, I have read all of Ottessa Moshfegh’s novels. I remember when I was in university and she was up for the Booker Prize for her novel “Eileen”, my lecturer recommended we read the book and I spent the whole night up and reading it. It was one of the most psychologically messed up things I had read in a long time and though I spent the whole night with it, I spent the rest of the semester trying to shake it off. It was quite disturbing. A few years later I read her books “Homesick for Another World” and one of my personal favourites, “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” which I actually read twice. Now that I am on her novel “Death in Her Hands” I understand that many people think that she writes novels about lonely and isolated women - but seriously this is far different than anything I have read by her so far. This is less of an isolated female novel and more of a psychological thriller that is both horrifying and disturbing at the same time. When I read this book, I found myself being unable to put it down during my work breaks and ended up reading the whole thing in only a few hours. Let’s take a look at what it is about and I will try my best to leave out the spoilers.

Vesta is a 72-year-old woman and she has moved to a small town now that her husband has died, she has downsized considerably and gotten a dog called Charlie to keep her sane and company. She finds a note stating that there is a girl called Magda who has died after being murdered. The here is her body’ comment is strange because there is no body. There is no address, there is no other names and the handwriting seems to be very standard. At first, Vesta thinks it is just a silly game some teenagers were playing but then she thinks of the possibility that maybe it was real after all. Unable to get it out of her mind, she starts to investigate the death of Magda and what actually happened to her, where her body actually is and who killed her. Hour by hour, Vesta spends just pining away over the story of Magda, trying to put one and one together to see who was involved in her death. She finds more clues day by day and from what she puts together, she starts to draw strange conclusions. During all of this, we learn more and more about our main character, Vesta and how she lives now that her husband is gone. It is a thrilling tale about a woman who is practically at the end of the line and wants to do just one more thing before she dies. Is this really it for Vesta? Will she be the one to find out what really happened to Magda? There are so many questions.

In conclusion, I will say that this is possibly my favourite novel by Ottessa Moshfegh so far and if you think I am going to read every next book she releases then you are correct. It is a brilliantly written psychological novel with a premise that will leave you thinking about it way after you have finished it. It is something where you do not know who to trust and you, along with Vesta, are being very careful about where they tread. It is a novel that has been planned to precision and has been executed with the very intent of making you read it on and on and on.