"My eyes are closed. The burning noon sun is creeping under my eyelids flashing red, an insidious wound stinging intermittently, reminding me that I hurt; therefore I am."
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The Other Girl by Alexandra Ares CreateSpace
book review by L. Alonso
Maxim Smirnov has lofty aspirations. He wants to follow Mark Zuckerberg's entrepreneurial footsteps and become a billionaire before he's 30. But he's not there yet. A Russian immigrant navigating the competitive streets of New York, Max lives moment to moment, software contract to software contract. He sleeps in his office. All of his belongings fit inside an orange bed sheet folded in four. It's no surprise his stunning girlfriend is reluctant to move in with him. Answering an ad for a roommate, Maxim finds an unlikely friend in Giordana Gatti, a movie animator and fellow lonely heart who tells her story over the course of a prolonged conversation and quite a few glasses of Jack. Giordana's tale of unrequited love with a much older man is both familiar and illuminating, revealing disappointments and betrayals with biting insight that draws subtle parallels between the lives of these two characters.
Written primarily in dialogue, The Other Girl is a fascinating exploration of a man and a woman whose rich and complex lives intersect briefly but are changed immeasurably. There is something both natural and elevated about the conversations between Max and Gio that draw the reader in and keep them invested in the extended discussion. Giordana's narrative about the doomed relationship that she compromised her identity to salvage is told with unflinching honesty that meanders into the philosophical. While this is not a traditional story in terms of plot, Ares captivates the reader by creating two people who are realistically flawed and vulnerable in a way that not only provokes sympathy but connects with the reader on a fundamental level. Though the ending lacks a sense of real closure, the ambiguity with which it is drawn remains true to the tone and themes of the novella: Life is messy and uncertain. To wrap the story up neatly would be to compromise the message.