Confusing questions
When you’re down to your last dollar with nowhere to go . . . what do you do? If you’re Mary, you sign up for The Girlfriend Experiment. Mary is out of options. She’s estranged from her family, heavily plagued by debt and beset by phantom pain, so she signs up for a mysterious project that gives the promise of money. The Girlfriend Experiment is masterminded by a famous Hollywood actor who decides to hire women from all over New York to fulfil different parts of a relationship.
“If Kurt enters the room, you will look in his direction, but not at his eyes. You will smile, slightly, as if you are thinking about something else. You should remain occupied by your chosen activity. You should not think of Kurt or let any of your attention settle on where he is in the room.”
Mary is hired as the Emotional Girlfriend — alongside her co- stars, the Maternal Girlfriend, the Mundanity Girlfriend, the Anger Girlfriend and the Intimacy Team — in a tale that asks the deepest questions about love, relationships and existence in the modern age.
Author Catherine Lacey explores the scientific makeup of relationships from what makes two people compatible, what keeps the wheels turning and, most importantly, what is real love between lovers?
The longer Mary takes part in the experiment, the murkier the waters. As Mary and the famous Hollywood actor draw closer to each other, the nature of the experiment changes and Mary — and the other Girlfriends — find themselves in unknown territory. What is scientific research and what is reality becomes blurred.
The Answers is a mostly stormy, sometimes feral and utterly confusing novel. In the midst of this book is Mary and her overbearing family and personal issues, but it also deals with bizarre friendships and experiences, and then there’s The Girlfriend Experiment. Try it for a different take on a romantic drama.