Susanna Moore The Big Girls

The Big Girls

Susanna Moore

Knopf, May 2007, $24.00

ISBN: 1400041902

Six months of serving time at Sloatsburg Correctional Institution in upstate New York chief psychiatrist Dr. Louise Forrest still has not adjusted to the harsh conditions. The federal women's prison is as bleak a place as one can imagine with it being understaffed, which in turn means dangerous. Inmates like suicidal children's killer Helen Nash and corrections officer Captain Henry "Ike" Bradshaw wonder why Louise stay at this foreboding dump when she can go anywhere.

Unbeknownst to those two and others, Louise has come here to hide from her own psychological baggage; her solo joy in her grim lonely life is her son Ransom. However, Louise finds fascination in the case of Helen, who swears she was protecting her offspring from the voices of the "Messengers" that drive her actions. Helen believes that actress Angie Mills, the current girlfriend of Rafael, Louise's ex-husband, is her sister. Helen begins writing letters to Angie, Ike and Louise fall into to bed together only to be caught by Ransom, who tells his father the guard molested him. The six person pile-up has begun.

This character driven tale from the opening description of the prison setting grips the audience with a foreboding that disaster is imminent; readers never let go of that dark gloomy feeling even after the tale is finished. The male characters seem more caricature than full blooded while the three prime females appear genuine with each having major issues including the actress who needs to believe that Helen is a sibling. Condemning the way America warehouses the mentally impaired especially the criminal subgroup, readers will appreciate this well written ominous drama.

Harriet Klausner