Offcomer

April 27, 2015
Baker’s reissued debut novel follows the life of a young Oxford graduate who suffers from depression and low self-esteem. Claire, who lives in Belfast with her overly critical and unloving boyfriend, Alan, begins cutting herself to deal with her pain. Despite Barber’s admirable narration, this novel is not well suited to the audio format. There is very little dialogue, and most of the scenes are long, minutely detailed descriptions of Claire’s activities: she enters the house, she takes off her coat, she crosses to the bed, etc. Narrator Barber does an excellent job conveying Claire’s state of mind, especially considering most of Claire’s interactions with other characters consists of short replies such as “Oh” and “Sorry.” Barber says these words in a soft, vulnerable voice, as though apologizing for simply existing, and wishing she could disappear. But the long descriptions that fill the book become tedious to listen to, and Claire’s self-effacing depression makes her flat and lacking personality—she is a character to be pitied, but it’s hard to actually like her or find her interesting. A Vintage paperback.

October 1, 2014
Unmoored and self-harming, the heroine of British novelist Baker's (Longbourn, 2013, etc.) disturbing first novel-appearing for the first time in the U.S.-is caught in a suffocating downward spiral. Offcomers are misfits, rootless souls, not locals, and Claire Thomas has become one of them. The only child of a fostered mother and a loving father silenced by illness, Claire grew up in the north of England alongside confident BFF Jennifer, but that relatively normal early life has evolved into an isolated, drifting adulthood. As an awkward student at Oxford University, she met another lonely soul, philosophy student Alan, and after graduation followed him to his hometown of Belfast in Northern Ireland. There, in an uncertain political climate, Claire finds herself living in a punitive relationship, working a dead-end job. One particularly repugnant sex act leads to Claire's moving out of Alan's cramped flat and into a friend's spare room, but she's scarcely happier there, sleeping with the friend's boyfriend and repeatedly cutting herself with a razor blade. While Baker's intense debut lays down markers for the sensitively imagined novels to follow, this closely detailed first work is often bleak, and Claire's insecurity can make for difficult reading. Eventually, while she's on a desperate trip home to her parents, secrets about the past are broken open during a confrontation with Claire's mother over a photo album, her mother's sole pre-fostering possession that hints at but doesn't confirm family connections. This burst of honesty, alongside acts of unexpected kindness by her Belfast boss, is enough to alter the balance of Claire's sense of self-worth. Baker skillfully captures the alienation of a fragile young woman, but the signs of Claire's shift toward hope are a long time coming.

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November 1, 2014
After the success of her Pride and Prejudice retelling, Longbourn (2013), British writer Baker's publisher is bringing her debut novel to the U.S. for the first time. University student Claire meets Alan in a life-drawing class at Oxford and falls into a relationship with him despite the disappointing sex they have and Alan's sour personality. After graduation, Claire follows Alan to his hometown of Belfast and takes a job at a local pub. She falls in with Alan's friends, Paul and Grainne, and when she and Alan eventually split up, she takes Grainne up on her offer of a room. Adrift and lonely, Claire makes a rash decision that ultimately leads her on a trip back home to confront truths about her friends and family. Readers who enjoyed the spirited heroine of Longbourn might be a bit disappointed by limpid Claire, though her angst and attempts to figure out who she is and who she wants to be may resonate with those who have had similar struggles.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)