The Uses of Enchantment

by Heidi Julavits

On a drizzly November afternoon, 16-year-old Mary Veale was abducted and raped. Or was she? This is the premise of the novel. As the story goes, Mary didn’t remember anything about the abduction, and her therapist decided that she was lying about the experience. Her therapist used her case to support a theory of his and wrote a book about it.

Now, 14 years later, Mary is coping with the death of her mother and the unresolved and unspoken feelings of her family. We learn her story through three points of view:
• “What may have happened”
• Mary’s therapist’s notes
• Mary in the present day.

This is an intriguing and odd novel. It tackles the issues of family and sexuality, as well as the experience of the victim who is not believed. Even in the slow parts, you’ll keep reading because you’re dying to know what really happened to Mary.

12/26/06