"Nightbitch"

Perfect for those that love off-kilter humor and truly thought-provoking literature. Absolutely wild and poignant.

Summary:

An artist turned stay-at-home mom begins to experience another odd transformation. She's growing hair on her neck and back, developing a taste for raw meat, and maybe even sprouting a tail. Now it's a battle in herself to become either the dogmatic mother she's pictured or the dog she so badly wants to unleash. But are the two really so different?

Verdict: 9.5/10

Yes, I know. Very much not my usual pick. Having to ask the little old librarian to search for this one was funny enough. But trying to read it in public or on break at work was even better. If you can get past the “vulgar ludeness,” you’re in for quite the unique read.

The synopsis may sound like a typical were-wolf tale, but it is sooooo much more. While the novel had horror aspects and some nasty imagery at times, I would count it more as literary fiction. It’s disturbing at times but that is to better convey the message. And the themes are so true to life.

I’m not a mother, but there were still so many motifs that I could relate to, both as a working woman and just as a human being. How much do we reign ourselves in because of who is around us or other people’s perception? How do we find balance between biology and aspirations/careerism? Many books labeled feminist are ones that I will never read. You know the type: “women are goddesses who rule all and men are stupid and evil tyrants trying to keep them down.” But this was true feminism, not overly in your face. It was more about the down-to-earth human experiences and struggles… if those struggles were turning into a dog.

It definitely took some adjusting as it seems like an experimental novel. Yoder breaks all normal practices you have for a book like chapters, punctuation, linear narrative, even names. The running sentences, incomplete phrases, the lack of punctuation - all constructs of grammar created for the ease of the audience and their perception, but our internal thoughts never have any of those (at least non-English majors tell me they don’t).

These stylistic choices of how the novel was written was yet another way to cleverly convey the themes. And it makes it more intentionally powerful when that punctuation is included. The attention to detail blew me away.

For instance, there are no quotation marks around dialogue (which took some getting used to). The only time we see the use of quotation marks is in the sections taken from Wanda White’s Field Guide, as if the truth is only now being spoken into existence.

Or the fact that we never learn the main characters’ names! Others outside of the main family have names (Wanda White, Jen, Babs, Poppy), but the rest are known as “the husband”, “the child” or “her son”, and “the mother” or “the wife”. Yoder establishes from the very beginning a world in which the main character feels defined by her role, not by her individual name. It’s not until her full transformation that she begins to be called Nightbitch fully. The only clue we have to her name is her initials at the end of her emails to Wanda: MM. And don’t think I didn’t notice that it’s only missing an ‘o’ to spell out Mom. Or that the person she’s addressing (WW) is her exact opposite.

I absolutely adored the fact that every choice the author made had a purpose and a meaning. I loved finding the little hints and going ‘I see what you did there.’ I really think this would make a fantastic book club for that very reason. I want to go back through and see if there are other details that I missed or interpretations to things.

Specifically, I’d like to get others’ take on the finale and the art exhibition. I thought it was a great way to close it, but I didn’t really understand the golden bones or whether she was using her grandmother’s magic to enact the events or not. Gosh, I could just delve deeper and deeper into this. The husband’s viewpoint and whether this is good for the child or not. The whole concept of art throughout the novel. How the herb mommies played into her views of a pack.

This may be one of my favorite books of the year! I was so oddly transfixed by this bizarre journey. I think this quote from the end sums it all up:

"This performance [and this book] is meant to underscore the brutality and power and darkness of motherhood, for modern motherhood has been neutered and sanitized. We are at base animals, and to deny us either our animal nature or our dignity as humans is a crime against existence. Womanhood and motherhood are perhaps the most potent forces in human society, which of course men have been hasty to quash, for they are right to fear these forces." - Rachel Yoder, pg. 237