19. Eileen

By Ottessa Moshfegh (440 pp)

I first read this author in the New Yorker and loved her writing. I haven't read a book like this in a long time. Dark and squalid. The protagonist is a young woman with a terrible home life and a murky inner-life who works in a juvenile prison. Everything is grim. A new employee shows up at the prison and Eileen finally seems to have a friend until things take an unexpected turn. A little darker than I prefer but terrific writing.