Review: 'The Rabbit Hutch' by Tess Gunty
Pub. Date: 8/4/2022
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
Welcome to The Rabbit Hutch.
An online obituary writer. A young mother with a secret. A woman waging a solo campaign against rodents. Separated by the thin walls of The Rabbit Hutch, a low-cost housing complex in the run-down Indiana town of Vacca Vale, these individual lives unfold.
But Blandine isn't like the other residents of her building. Ethereally beautiful and formidably intelligent, she spends her hours reading Dante and dreaming about becoming a female mystic.
Until, that is, three sweltering days in July culminate in an act of violence that will change everything, and finally offer her a chance to escape. Savage and hilarious, The Rabbit Hutch is a piercing look at the power structures that shape us, and the tale of a young woman with irrepressible strength.
Blandine, the heart of The Rabbit Hutch, has become obsessed with female mystics from the Middle Ages. As someone who works with medieval literature, including the occasional saint's life, I connected with Blandine over this. There is something about female saints and mystics which is revolutionary. In a world and a religion governed by men, these women found and forged paths and lives for themselves which included connection, conversation, education, glory, and pain. I've been intrigued with these mystics myself, with how their piety mixes with a fiery nature. Through Blandine's focus on them, I came to understand her more. The obsession with the mystics, with their impassioned, almost over-the-top approach to life, also fits to the novel's general vibe. The Rabbit Hutch is dream-like and a bit manic at times, a story impacted by the town's dying industry, its summer heat, its lack of opportunities. It is a fantastical narrative, with characters and storylines that don't feel grounded. But this, I believe, is all on purpose as Tess Gunty takes us on a fever dream trip through a variety of lives.
One night something violent happens at the Rabbit Hutch, a housing complex in Vacca Vale. Over the next 400+ pages, Tess Gunty shows you the different inhabitants of the Rabbit Hutch and how their lives led up to this one, fateful night. There is Blandine and her three male roommates, all fresh out of the foster system. Their story and their relationships form the nexus of the storm that is brewing. Next in relevance, or perhaps in how much we find out about here, is Joan, an obituary writer who feels stuck on the sidelines of her own life. I also connected strongly to the story of a new mother, oddly afraid of her new baby's eyes. Some of the side-characters weren't really all that intriguing to me, or rather, I didn't connect as much to them, like the dying TV-star and her son. But they did add to the overall delightful weirdness of The Rabbit Hutch.
This is a debut novel, which amazed me because it is such a confident and controlled narrative. While some elements could have been trimmed down, or made more relevant, such as some of the side characters, there was a really solid thrust to the narrative. I also enjoyed the ways in which Gunty played with different narrative forms for different characters. She doesn't do so consistently, but at times something else will peek through, like the drawings made by one of the characters. One (smallish) complaint I do have is that, while I enjoyed Blandine as a character, there is a manic pixie dream girl-aspect to her as well, to her intelligence, her glamour, her troubled life. When we're in Blandine's head, this didn't get to me as much, but when you see her through the eyes of other characters she sometimes feels a little too unreal. I appreciate this is part of the storyline, but it could have been tweaked a little. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for future books by Tess Gunty.
I give this novel...
4 Universes!
The Rabbit Hutch surprised me and gripped me in a way I wasn't quite expecting. Blandine is an intriguing character and her obsession with mystics had me pick up a biography of Hildegard of Bingen. So, this novel will seep into you!
Discover the charm of "The Rabbit Hutch" by Tess Gunty, a delightful read that captivates readers of all ages. Explore this heartwarming tale with Penguin Book Writers and immerse yourself in its endearing story.
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