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The new book is populated with characters pursuing clean slates, struggling to escape addictions or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into violence. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Examples include "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" appear throughout the narrative. Meanwhile, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, since this appears a different type of work – documentarian, authentically narrative. However it reveals itself to be filled with the familiar conflicts and approaches as her previous works.

From Unplanned Author to Cult Classic

The writer was originally an artist who became a writer somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating intimate women's literature from self-debasement into defiance. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels did not possess the shock and immediacy that the epistolary style imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her identity as a maverick maker who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It makes sense that she presently aims to explore new kinds of material, looking outwards to external narratives, at a period in which she claims that Trumpian politics turns intimate literature unnecessary.

Three Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing several time periods – each trapped by their histories. The book includes the narrative about Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband a man named Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a community mostly forsaken by liberal ideals only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.

For this reader fond of polished prose of the kind Kraus often avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section.

As someone who reads who favors crafted language of the style that Kraus herself usually avoids, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."

Frustration and Disruption

I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this different style could last out the book. Kraus says here that she dislikes the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she echoes from her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works comes back in the middle section. Catt Greene is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as her spouse moves between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a world fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on a platform, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. At one point she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an America that her social media opponents would not understand, would not even see".

The Homicide Account

Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the eponymous day experienced by the victim with the murderer and his associates. The author possesses great source material, and knows hour by hour what happened when Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, wandering about fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is Brittney herself, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual derailing in a difficult, overlooked locality. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels oddly unfinished, to the degree that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par