Veronica by Mary Gaitskill

For the first few pages, I had difficulty slipping into this book's little world, but once I fell through the looking glass, I was hooked. Bittersweet is a cliched word when used in reference to life, but it's a cliche for a reason. And, Gaitskill managed to capture the sadness and love that reverberate through the ties that bind family. I'm always a sucker for a story of a character who is one of three sisters, which this was. The main character, Allison (not Veronica), is the "troubled" sister, the one who leaves. She runs off to be a literal flower child, selling flowers outside of strip clubs, and eventually becomes a model, which somehow is no cleaner or brighter than her first job. Watching the life of a lost girl unfurl while privy to her thoughts and feelings was absorbing, and I totally, totally understood. That's no great feat, on Gaitskill's part--I should have been drawn to Daphne's story, the story of the "good" sister, but Gaitskill's telling of Allison's story was compelling, thoughtful, and revealed that even though it may not have appeared to be so, Allison was just as good. Just as good, different, and seemingly fated to struggle.