Reconstructing Amelia

In Reconstructing Amelia, the stunning debut novel from Kimberly McCreight, Kate's in the middle of the biggest meeting of her career when she gets the telephone call from Grace Hall, her daughter’s exclusive private school in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Amelia has been suspended, effective immediately, and Kate must come get her daughter—now. But Kate’s stress over leaving work quickly turns to panic when she arrives at the school and finds it surrounded by police officers, fire trucks, and an ambulance. By then it’s already too late for Amelia. And for Kate.

An academic overachiever despondent over getting caught cheating has jumped to her death. At least that’s the story Grace Hall tells Kate. And clouded as she is by her guilt and grief, it is the one she forces herself to believe. Until she gets an anonymous text: She didn’t jump.

Reconstructing Amelia is about secret first loves, old friendships, and an all-girls club steeped in tradition. But, most of all, it’s the story of how far a mother will go to vindicate the memory of a daughter whose life she couldn’t save.

Fans of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl will find Reconstructing Amelia just as gripping and surprising.

My Verdict

The mix of desire and disdain for popularity and acceptance many women face and the way it shapes them as human beings and informs their actions is the heart of Kimberly McCreight’s Reconstructing Amelia.

The story is told in alternating perspectives, Kate’s story told in third person and Amelia’s point of view in first person through blog posts, Facebook updates, and other cyber-methods. Sometimes this gets in the way of the story, but in the case of this novel it works well.

The author hits a rather raw nerve in her evocations of bullying and a nascent same-sex attraction as prime movers in the decisions of a teen on the edge, creating in Amelia a real girl pushed too far. Amelia is neither angel nor devil, and her vulnerability shines through in her first person narrative sections. I found this compelling based on my experience as a high school teacher.

Reconstructing Amelia is an entertaining book—if the reader can suspend disbelief as to how closely a parent would be allowed to participate in a murder investigation involving his or her child. I enjoyed the book, but it did wax a bit melodramatic for me at times. I give this one 4 stars.