I listened to the audio version of Fair Ones, and I was rapt the whole time. The narrator was engaging, and there were so many memorable quotes that I wished I could have highlighted. Some of the concepts from characters’ conversations that will stick with me are
-Walking is contemplative.
-Pleasure and so-called being in love are based on neurological novelty.
-Take a firm hand with the brain; too much time and the dopamine flows.
-Gaze at me anthropologically. Stare the way you would at a naive teenager.
Fair Ones is a character-driven novel that highlights two 40-something women as they mourn the death of the third member of their friend group, come to terms with her murder, and go on with their lives. It’s all about friendship, significant others, aging parents, and changing perspectives on life. The first part of the book is told from Mara’s point of view, and she introduces the reader to the characters, including Claire, who was shot by a 13-year-old. Of course, there is more to the story than what the police filed, and delving into Claire’s actions before her murder reveals interesting and disturbing information, but the book is not a murder mystery. The text unravels what the characters chose to share with others and explores truthfulness and lying by omission. The second part of the book, narrated by Jen, takes place about a year after Claire’s death and further elucidates the assertions Mara, Jen, and Claire made about their future lives and what truly happens.
Through carefully crafted conversations, Lydia Millet conveys what she believes matters to women in the modern age—some age-old problems, such as aging bodies and parents, and more contemporary issues, such as climate change, the future of capitalism, and technology issues. Jen and Mara interact with Claire’s family and her former lover, whom they discover was stalking her. As they deal with grief, memories, and assumptions while focusing on Claire, they grow in their relationship with each other and other people they encounter.
The main characters’ dialogue with each other, their significant others, coworkers, and extended family members reveals not only what’s on their minds, but also what many 21st-century people are thinking. Some moments are hilarious, while others reveal contradictory emotions and the struggles of everyday life. Both Jen and Mara, who vowed to remain childless, experience priceless insights into the human condition when they interact with their partners’ children from previous marriages. Some of the situations Jen faces in her professional role offer profound commentary on men’s and women’s roles in the workforce. So many seemingly mundane incidents from everyday life teach them to expect the unexpected, a universal lesson.
As the novel progresses and we learn more about the main characters, we also meet new characters and appreciate different perspectives. The book doesn’t have a clearly discernible plot, but it moves along smoothly because so much of what happens is relatable. We can sympathize with the struggles and dilemmas the characters face and feel their joy and sense of accomplishment as they develop the life skills to move forward in their journeys. The book is essentially about nothing and everything. There is social commentary throughout—racism, sexism, pedophilia, white privilege, casual drug and alcohol use, addiction, politics, and everything that real people discuss and ponder. Along with the commentary, I was impressed by how the characters expressed raw emotions such as guilt and shame.
It becomes clear that Jen, Mara, and Claire have created a family-like bond, and friendships seem to prevail over bloodlines, reflecting life and giving the reader a lot to consider about the value of relationships and how we are all interdependent on each other in situational and lifelong ways.