Jessica Anthony’s “The Most” is a tight little novella of mid-century America, a throwback to John Cheever, John Updike, and Richard Yates, though from the point of view of a female protagonist, which offers some interesting twists.
Kathleen Beckett is a former college tennis prodigy turned suburban housewife who decides one warm Sunday morning to slip into the neighborhood swimming pool and refuses to emerge. Over the course of the day, she reflects on her past (particularly with her former tennis coach), her unhappy marriage, and her uncertain future, wallowing in melancholy ruminations.
The book itself, though, is hardly melancholy. The language is crisp, the barbs are sharp, and the twists are shocking. I enjoyed the wickedness lurking under the surface of Kathleen’s proper demeanor, and her efforts to find as much freedom as possible within the constraints of a presentable suburban life.
