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Eileen (novel)
Eileen is a 2015 novel by Ottessa Moshfegh, published by Penguin Press. It is Moshfegh's first full-length novel. It won the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel and was shortlisted for the 2016 Man Booker Prize and the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. The novel was adapted into a 2023 film.
Eileen narrates the events of her last week in her home town, a small Massachusetts town she calls X-ville, 50 years previously.
In 1964, 24-year-old Eileen is a secretary at a private juvenile correctional facility for teenage boys, which she calls Moorehead. She lives with her father, a former police officer who is an alcoholic and suffers from paranoia. (He believes he is being watched.) Her mother died several years prior, and her sister Joanie lives a town over and visits sporadically. Eileen is deeply unhappy with her life and her self. She fantasizes about leaving and moving to New York City.
On Friday, Eileen spends her time counting down the clock at her job; fantasizing about Randy, a prison guard she has a crush on; and being annoyed with her fellow secretaries, Mrs. Murray and Mrs. Stephens. The prison psychiatrist, Dr. Frye, retires. That evening, Joanie visits briefly.
Eileen spends her last weekend in X-ville buying alcohol for her father, visiting the library, shoplifting from stores, and sitting outside Randy's apartment hoping to see him.
On Monday, the warden introduces the new psychiatrist, Dr. Morris, and director of education, Rebecca Saint John. Eileen finds Rebecca beautiful, stylish, and glamorous. She shows Rebecca her locker in the staff room and they briefly banter. Eileen is thrilled to have finally found a friend.
That afternoon, the boys put on the annual Christmas pageant. Rebecca leaves early, and later so does Eileen. Eileen wanders past "the cave" where boys are kept in solitary confinement due to bad behavior. Currently in the cave is Lee Polk, a boy who has been silent and withdrawn ever since arriving a few weeks previously. Lee begins to touch himself, and Eileen watches, transfixed, before a sound startles her and she goes back to the office. She asks Mrs. Stephens why Lee is in solitary and is told he is a troublemaker. After the other secretaries leave, she looks at Lee's file and discovers he is in prison for killing his father. Rebecca comes in to say goodnight and upon seeing the file, asks to borrow it.
On Tuesday, Eileen oversees visiting hours. Mrs. Polk, Lee's mother, visits for the first time. As the visit is beginning, Rebecca arrives to observe and take notes. Mrs. Polk tries engaging with Lee, but he says nothing. She finally leaves after saying "I blame myself". Rebecca leans into Lee and begins to talk to him so quietly Eileen cannot hear. Eileen is unsettled by how intimate the interaction is. She tells Rebecca they need the room for other visits, so Rebecca takes Lee to her office. Later, Eileen returns the notebook Rebecca left and finds Lee is still in Rebecca's office. Rebecca asks Eileen to meet her for a drink later.
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Eileen (novel)
Eileen is a 2015 novel by Ottessa Moshfegh, published by Penguin Press. It is Moshfegh's first full-length novel. It won the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel and was shortlisted for the 2016 Man Booker Prize and the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. The novel was adapted into a 2023 film.
Eileen narrates the events of her last week in her home town, a small Massachusetts town she calls X-ville, 50 years previously.
In 1964, 24-year-old Eileen is a secretary at a private juvenile correctional facility for teenage boys, which she calls Moorehead. She lives with her father, a former police officer who is an alcoholic and suffers from paranoia. (He believes he is being watched.) Her mother died several years prior, and her sister Joanie lives a town over and visits sporadically. Eileen is deeply unhappy with her life and her self. She fantasizes about leaving and moving to New York City.
On Friday, Eileen spends her time counting down the clock at her job; fantasizing about Randy, a prison guard she has a crush on; and being annoyed with her fellow secretaries, Mrs. Murray and Mrs. Stephens. The prison psychiatrist, Dr. Frye, retires. That evening, Joanie visits briefly.
Eileen spends her last weekend in X-ville buying alcohol for her father, visiting the library, shoplifting from stores, and sitting outside Randy's apartment hoping to see him.
On Monday, the warden introduces the new psychiatrist, Dr. Morris, and director of education, Rebecca Saint John. Eileen finds Rebecca beautiful, stylish, and glamorous. She shows Rebecca her locker in the staff room and they briefly banter. Eileen is thrilled to have finally found a friend.
That afternoon, the boys put on the annual Christmas pageant. Rebecca leaves early, and later so does Eileen. Eileen wanders past "the cave" where boys are kept in solitary confinement due to bad behavior. Currently in the cave is Lee Polk, a boy who has been silent and withdrawn ever since arriving a few weeks previously. Lee begins to touch himself, and Eileen watches, transfixed, before a sound startles her and she goes back to the office. She asks Mrs. Stephens why Lee is in solitary and is told he is a troublemaker. After the other secretaries leave, she looks at Lee's file and discovers he is in prison for killing his father. Rebecca comes in to say goodnight and upon seeing the file, asks to borrow it.
On Tuesday, Eileen oversees visiting hours. Mrs. Polk, Lee's mother, visits for the first time. As the visit is beginning, Rebecca arrives to observe and take notes. Mrs. Polk tries engaging with Lee, but he says nothing. She finally leaves after saying "I blame myself". Rebecca leans into Lee and begins to talk to him so quietly Eileen cannot hear. Eileen is unsettled by how intimate the interaction is. She tells Rebecca they need the room for other visits, so Rebecca takes Lee to her office. Later, Eileen returns the notebook Rebecca left and finds Lee is still in Rebecca's office. Rebecca asks Eileen to meet her for a drink later.