Very Cold People

MICHELE FILGATE, THE WASHINGTON POST

"It's impossible to read Manguso's novel without wondering how much of the writer's own life is in it ... But to look for her between the lines misses the point in a book that gets at larger truths about countless girls caught in the cycle of generational trauma ... Manguso's attention to the chilliness and reservation of certain New Englanders crackles like a room-temperature beverage poured over ice ... Ruthie's short, vivid memories accumulate like snowflakes on a windowsill, many centered on her complicated relationship with her difficult mother, a woman whose coldness is its own distinctive parenting style ... Manguso captures both the repelling and beautiful aspects of girls' bodies...what's visible and what shimmers right underneath the surface ... What elevates Very Cold People above a traditional coming-of-age novel is Manguso's insistence on not being fooled by exterior markings ... Manguso portrays the fears surrounding girlhood with a blistering clarity."