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This latest work centers on characters pursuing new beginnings, trying to break free from substance abuse or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into aggression. The author repeatedly invokes the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into willfully cynical through its repetitions. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the story. At the same time, Kraus herself is embarking on her individual reinvention, since this presents as a novel form of writing – observational, truly literary. However it proves to be packed with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as past novels.

From Accidental Writer to Cult Classic

Kraus began as an visual artist who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating personal female narrative from abjection into rebellion. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the impact and rawness that the epistolary style imparted to the voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a maverick maker who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on property transactions. It is logical that she presently aims to try out new kinds of material, looking outwards to external narratives, at a period in which she claims that current political era turns intimate literature obsolete.

Several Eras, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering three generations – each trapped by their backgrounds. The book includes the narrative about Emma and Jasper, representations of Kraus's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. There is the narrative of the author, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction her husband Paul. Finally the account of a killing of one directionless individual by another in a locality largely deserted by liberal ideals only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader fond of honed writing of the sort the author herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the first section.

As someone who reads drawn to crafted language of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was captivated by the literary tone of the first section. It exhibits a novel degree of detail that makes room for small details, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he answers, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like hard candy". The author narrates the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this different style could continue through the novel. The author states here that she dislikes the satisfaction readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she has in common with her hero writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works reasserts itself in the second segment. The protagonist is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul moves between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a world propelled by the rage and anxiety that drives Trump's victory. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. At one point she remarks that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".

The Homicide Account

So then we come to the murder itself – and the titular day passed by the victim with the killer and his companions. Kraus has excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what happened when Brandon came to meet Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, loitering having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's boyfriend Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for violent rage.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt develops an obsession by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking wrestle in this part. But I'd have liked her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a struggling, neglected community. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par