"The Darren Effect" by Libby Creelman

Published by Goose Lane.

Heather is grieving her recently deceased lover, Benny, when she goes on a mission with her sister Mandy to spy on Mandy’s old roommate, Darren (her sister is planning to write something about lost chances). Meanwhile, Benny’s widow (Isabella) has just moved in across the street from Darren. Heather and Darren eventually get together, and Darren and Isabella become friends. Their lives are not really intertwined, per se, but they do all come together near the end (at a barbecue).

The plot, however, does not seem to be the focal point of this novel (and I say that with surprise and delight). Most of what happens does more to reveal character than it does to drag the reader along some meaningless string of events towards an inevitable conclusion⎯sorry, I’ve been reading a lot of pop chick lit lately. Creelman’s characters are already in the midst of living their lives when the reader comes in. Her style is immediately engaging and gives the characters depth.

They’re also quite funny at times, but I find it hard to agree with the “devastatingly funny novel” claim on the back of the book. There is definitely humour in it, but it’s the kind of humour that only unhappy people seem to get. Overall, Darren lives with a demanding, paranoid sister, has an odd neighbour and somebody following him around; Heather loses her lover and almost her feet as she stalks Darren (and, oh yeah, she’s pregnant with her dead lover’s baby); and Isabella has a shopping addiction, a weird son, a dead unfaithful husband, and a smelly house due to an incontinent dog. If the reader isn’t used to finding humour in those kinds of situations (i.e., if they live in a bubble full of happy gas—you know the type), he or she probably won’t get the jokes. I laughed when Heather asked Darren if the Bruce Effect had ever been observed in humans. The Bruce effect is the tendency towards reabsorbing a fetus if the mother is exposed to a new male. That is, Heather is exposed to Darren and wonders (hopefully, it seems) whether it’s possible for the baby to be reabsorbed (in the third trimester, no less).

Overall, The Darren Effect is engaging; the reader is driven forward with interesting characters that one is eager to learn more about. Reading the book is like being gradually let into their lives, each interaction or reminiscence providing insight into their psyches. The great thing about it is that they do seem to actually have psyches; they’re realistic to the point where the reader assumes a life leading up to the point where the novel begins, and one that continues after it ends.