Gillian Flynn has the uncanny ability to mess with your head. She lets you soak in the intensity of the moment, the scene, the words – and when you’re so close to believing that what you’re reading is really happening, she pulls you back out of the scene, flashes a smirk, and tells you in the face: “I’m just kidding.”
She did that in Gone Girl, a brilliant masterpiece of lies and deception. She did it again in The Grownup, a story told from the perspective of the close-to-30 narrator who worked in giving men pleasure with the use of her hands and was later on “promoted” as a psychic.
Not getting the entire picture yet?
Our unnamed narrator and story’s main character grew up with a mother who took her out in the street to beg money for food. That’s how this girl learned the art of customer service, of convincing people to give her money because she is a pitiful, starving little girl. She was pretty self-made and smart, went to high school but dropped out and found work in Spiritual Palms (quite a name huh?) offering handjobs. Yes, that’s all she did unless Flynn comes out with a followup story where our dear character confesses she did go beyond handjob. All the hand jobs happened in the backroom of Spiritual Palms; the ‘harmless’ ones – and by harmless meaning palm reading, tarot card reading, and all matters psychic and mystic – happens at the front. Our protagonist, with her gift of calculating people after years of dealing with them and being her mother’s protégé in the begging world, took on the challenge of meeting people, telling them about their auras and the colors they emit, and forking in money that pays more than just the rent.
She was doing well. She is good at ‘reading’ people in the same way she loves to read books. Then came Susan Burke, a rich woman who lives in a mansion and flooded our unnamed main character with stories of her miserable life. Susan invited her to the mansion to help them, to cleanse the apartment, and find out what’s wrong so she can finally get a good night sleep.
Thinking about the money she will earn from this gig, solving the issue, being proclaimed a hero, getting referrals, and earning more cash, our lady jumped in and brought along her herbs as props.
In there, she met Susan’s stepson, Miles, notoriously known for his disturbing and violent behavior. The events that transpired in the series of visits she had in the house will remind you of classic horror stories where the dead walks with the living. But don’t think too much along this line. After all, this is Gillian Flynn writing and she may just be messing (again!) with your head.
A story that you can finish reading within 30 minutes to an hour, The Grownup takes us into the world where everything can be explained by a brilliant storyteller and some working knowledge in the sphere of website making. This one is another candidate for a movie adaptation.
You may think, after reading a few pages, that this isn’t a scary book. Be scared that you don’t feel scared because that means Flynn has worked on building up the scenes to deliver the scariest relevation. Didn’t you ever learn from Gone Girl?
The Grownup, which Flynn wrote for George R. R. Martin, is a good November read with a glass of warm milk or hot chocolate and a slice of good old pumpkin pie by your side. Stay warm because this book might give you the chills.
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