While Ottessa Moshfegh’s “Eileen” was classified as mystery fiction, there was no thrill or curiosity that the mystery genre typically gives you. The novel was well-written, but held minimal entertainment.

Eileen Dunlop, a sexually deprived 24-year-old, lives with her alcoholic father in X-ville, Massachusetts. She works as a secretary at a private juvenile boys’ detention facility called Moorehead. Eileen dresses conservatively in her deceased mother’s old clothing.

Randy, a guard from Moorehead, had Eileen’s focus, but it was not reciprocated. However, this detail doesn’t stop Eileen as she longs for his attention. She attempted in many ways to have him notice her existence, even sitting outside his home in her beat-up Dodge.

Eileen dreams of leaving X-ville, her father, and her miserable life.
But she reconsiders her plan once she meets Rebecca, a Harvard graduate brought in to help with the boys’ education.

Moshfegh has a well-written story of a dark and twisted character, who continues to help her father, who is a retired police officer and a deranged alcoholic.

The novel is told from Eileen’s point of view, but it’s the future Eileen remembering her life in X-ville and adding snippets of her current life at the time she is telling the story.

If you are a reader who enjoys the traditional storyline beginning from or near page one, look for a different novel. The actual story of Eileen did not begin until page 19.

Until that point, it was confusing ramblings, which are believed to be backstory and descriptions of Eileen herself.

While backstory is typically useful later in the plot of a story, that was not the case. Most of the background given within those first pages is retold, repeatedly, throughout the story.

The story, itself, is not mysterious or in any way motivating to continue reading. The description of the novel has it seem as if there is a mysterious, possibly supernatural, element as to why Eileen leaves X-ville. She speaks throughout about her plan to just keep driving one day and never look back, causing the only mystery to be when she would gain the courage to fulfill her plan.

Eileen has a number of quirks that could cause her to be very unrelatable to readers, including her stalking tendencies towards Randy.

As a 24-year-old, she managed to go to college, but returned home not long after arriving due to her mother’s illness. While she has kissed a boy, she has gone no further, but longs to do so, as colorfully described in her actions throughout the length of the novel.

The accomplishments Eileen did hold under her belt included living an unhealthy lifestyle of drinking, laxatives, and peanuts with her father, and being able to keep the job at Moorehead for three years.

Overall, “Eileen” is well-written, but it is not high on the recommendation list.