Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodwin

This book was long listed for the Booker Prize, and very nicely fits into the sort of book to glean that honor. It reads pretty tongue in cheek to me, and the characters are not named. Man is pretty typical of men who think they get what their privledge is but essentially are clueless. Despite his inducements to kindness, insight, fun and joy, Man is let go from his work as a university professor: his views are no longer compatible with the university’s. Later still, Wife, his spouse and also a professor at the university, leaves him. This might be because they met when he was her teacher and have since outgrown a dynamic where she is subordinate. Or because he speaks casually of hitting her during sex and of hitting her dog. Or simply because she is no longer as beautiful as she was when she was young (not that Man believes telling women they’re beautiful--not because it objectifies them but because it might go to their head). It’s difficult for him to say – all the same, he is depleted of self and purpose, and it’s clear a return to Nature is needed. This leads him to Helen and a house in the woods. While I can totally relate to this phenomena, having worked for 40 years in the workforce in general and as a university professor specifically, and this is dead on in so many ways, I just did not love it.