'Separation Anxiety' sheds new light on friendship
Kristin Sietsema
Issue date: 4/7/06 Section: ETC
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"You can break up with a boyfriend. You can divorce a husband. But there's no official way to end a friendship. You just have to drift apart." Karen Brichoux's book "Separation Anxiety" describes this feeling well. The story is about two friends, Wichita and Jonah, and a test of their friendship.
The book shifts consistently from Wichita and Jonah's past history to their present ones throughout the book. The story starts out with Wichita describing her friendship with Jonah. She wants to end it, but it's not that simple because she has been friends with Jonah for a very long time-since the two were in first grade.
Wichita brings the reader into her life when she first met Jonah in their small Illinois town of Hove. Constantly shifting to the past by describing every detail, from her first-grade teacher pronouncing her name wrong to the very first time they both played on the merry-go-round, even though Wichita knew that playing on the merry-go-round would make her sick ("I didn't want to tell him the last time I rode on a merry-go-round I threw up"), the book maintains a fast pace. Ever since the first grade right down to working at the same Chicago museum, the two have been inseparable. And she never had a problem with their friendship until now.
Wichita also not only details her past with Jonah, but also that of her family's as well. Her parents were caught up in a loveless marriage. Furthermore, her mother was a difficult person for Wichita to get along with, and she did not approve of Wichita's friendship with Jonah.
Wichita poignantly recalls when she left home at 17 to go to college in Chicago. Geena, Wichita's younger sister, runs away from home because like Wichita, she is unhappy there. Geena comes to live with Wichita. This event makes Wichita recall the time when she left home. The harsh words exchanged between Wichita and her mother were divisive, and as a result, Wichita only goes home when she feels obligated.
Wichita's relationship with her mother and what she witnessed in her parents' marriage causes her to second-guess her friendship with Jonah. Once comfortable with their friendship, Wichita then describes their inseparability as "Siamese twins" and fears the only way they can seperate is with a scalpel.
The "scalpel" Wichita acquires is Mike, the owner of The Club, a bar where Jonah and Wichita frequent. Wichita sleeps with Mike, hoping to forget about Jonah and the love she feels for him. A trip back home to makes Wichita realize what she lost, and then realizes she must grab her chance to get things right so she does not repeat the mistakes of her parents.
This book is very enjoyable to read, especially as a great work of women's fiction. Karen Brichoux's writing style is catchy and comical, especially when writing about Wichita's reactions. For instance, her reaction to Geena wanting to live with her ("…I'm not prepared to play house with an unhappy teenager.") and the description of the merry-go-round Wichita hates as a "revolving death trap" both give the book its fast pace that makes it so enjoyable to read.
For a poignant and comical insight into how friendships divide and reconnect, Karen Brichoux' "Seperation Anxiety" is a must-read novel for spring.
The book shifts consistently from Wichita and Jonah's past history to their present ones throughout the book. The story starts out with Wichita describing her friendship with Jonah. She wants to end it, but it's not that simple because she has been friends with Jonah for a very long time-since the two were in first grade.
Wichita brings the reader into her life when she first met Jonah in their small Illinois town of Hove. Constantly shifting to the past by describing every detail, from her first-grade teacher pronouncing her name wrong to the very first time they both played on the merry-go-round, even though Wichita knew that playing on the merry-go-round would make her sick ("I didn't want to tell him the last time I rode on a merry-go-round I threw up"), the book maintains a fast pace. Ever since the first grade right down to working at the same Chicago museum, the two have been inseparable. And she never had a problem with their friendship until now.
Wichita also not only details her past with Jonah, but also that of her family's as well. Her parents were caught up in a loveless marriage. Furthermore, her mother was a difficult person for Wichita to get along with, and she did not approve of Wichita's friendship with Jonah.
Wichita poignantly recalls when she left home at 17 to go to college in Chicago. Geena, Wichita's younger sister, runs away from home because like Wichita, she is unhappy there. Geena comes to live with Wichita. This event makes Wichita recall the time when she left home. The harsh words exchanged between Wichita and her mother were divisive, and as a result, Wichita only goes home when she feels obligated.
Wichita's relationship with her mother and what she witnessed in her parents' marriage causes her to second-guess her friendship with Jonah. Once comfortable with their friendship, Wichita then describes their inseparability as "Siamese twins" and fears the only way they can seperate is with a scalpel.
The "scalpel" Wichita acquires is Mike, the owner of The Club, a bar where Jonah and Wichita frequent. Wichita sleeps with Mike, hoping to forget about Jonah and the love she feels for him. A trip back home to makes Wichita realize what she lost, and then realizes she must grab her chance to get things right so she does not repeat the mistakes of her parents.
This book is very enjoyable to read, especially as a great work of women's fiction. Karen Brichoux's writing style is catchy and comical, especially when writing about Wichita's reactions. For instance, her reaction to Geena wanting to live with her ("…I'm not prepared to play house with an unhappy teenager.") and the description of the merry-go-round Wichita hates as a "revolving death trap" both give the book its fast pace that makes it so enjoyable to read.
For a poignant and comical insight into how friendships divide and reconnect, Karen Brichoux' "Seperation Anxiety" is a must-read novel for spring.