GONE GIRL: GILLIAM FLYNN

I  have to admit I have mixed reactions to this book, like my sister, Ellen.  Neither one of the major protagonists, Nick the husband, Amy the wife, is to be admired, in fact, they are about as reprehensible a couple as I have read about in fiction.  But I read on, hooked somewhat or just wanting to get it over with, so I could say I didn't quit on it.

The narrative method is a 'he said, she said,' alternating chapters my each.  The first half catalogues the disintegration of their marriage, their falling in love in NYC, a lovely marriage, the beginning of their separation in NYC, as they both lose their jobs, and the final straw, their move to Hannibal, Missouri, seemingly the end of the earth for Amy, where Nick' Mom his dying, his Dad in a home with Alzheimer's.  The novel begins with the disappearance of Amy from their home in Hannibal, Nick's nonchalance at her leaving.  Soon, however, as he involves the police, he begins to worry, not only about Amy but himself, as the blame begins to fall on Nick.  We see the next few weeks as Nick gradually awakens to the fact that Amy has set him up, literally, for murder and a trip to the electric chair.  We also are privy to the diary that Amy has kept during their last few months, where she proclaims her undying and intense love for Nick, despite their problems. This seems to contradict all that Nick has said.  We are unsure of Nick, whether he's guilty or not through out the first half of the book.  He's never really says where he was, what he was doing during the morning of Amy's disappearance and together with his blase attitude, we are inclined to believe in his guilt.

That's why we are shocked in the second half when Amy resurfaces alive and well, eager to see how her nefarious and well planned trap has worked.  As Nick examines the various pieces of Amy's treasure hunts, something she does on their anniversary, he slowly realizes she has hinted, all along. of her knowledge of his infidelity, his lovelessness, and her anger and hatred towards him, leading to her plan.  But he cannot prove it, to the cops, to his sister, Go, to the famous Tanner, lawyer to the 'guilty.' As the story goes public, as his infidelity is made known, as well as his wife's pregnancy, Nick becomes the most hated man in America.  He vows to get back at Amy and because he thinks he knows her well, her wanting to be loved and admired, he begins to woo her back through the media, admitting his mistakes publicly, using the media, telling her that he was at fault, that he still loves her, wants to her back.  Of course, no one knows about this, that he hopes to get her to surface this way, and save his life.

And it works, as we see her struggles to survive in the Ozarks where she hides out,  with some white trash, finally ending up at an old and very wealthy boy friend's house.  He has been obsessed with Amy for years, sent her letters, and welcomes her back.  He sets her up in his lake house, and literally holds her prisoner, keeping the keys, locking the gate and door, taking the car.  Amy realizes this is even worst that living with Nick and decides the only way out is to put the blame for her abduction and rape on Desi, by killing him and fleeing from his violent and obsessive hands.  Which she does, turning up at Nick's door one evening, with the media cameras flashing, looking beaten and ravaged.  She expects Nick to take her back (she knows him so well), convinces the police that Desi had kidnapped her, and Nick and Amy end up back together.  Nick, of course, still enraged by Amy, by her plan to have tried for murder but because of the press and media, they continue to live together.  Nick, in rage, almost chokes Amy to death one night but stops at the last moment, realizing he is close to becoming his father, a monster, who hated women.  He teams up with one of the police officers and his sister and together, they try to figure out how to prove Amy murdered Desi and set up Nick.  But Amy's been too smart, left no loose ends.  And the coup de grace seals the deal, the marriage.  She has saved sperm from their earlier experiments at a fertility clinic to get pregnant.  She impregnates herself with Nick's sperm, announces she is pregnant and it's only then that Nick realizes that gives up.

He and Amy will be together for life and he vows to make sure their child will have a happy life, protected by him, from the insanity of Amy.  And so it goes.  Just to show you how little I cared about the end, I went to sleep with the last page or two to go.  In fact, I haven't read it yet but will do it when I finish this.  No surprises, just a great last line by Nick to Amy.  When asked by Amy why he has been so solicitous towards her, he answers: "Because I feel sorry for you. Amy asks, "Why?"  He answers: "Because every morning you have to wake up to be you."  This may be the only time in the novel where Amy is taken aback, surprised.  I give Flynn credit for her writing as she is insightful about modern life, about love, about people, their selfishness yet also their love.  I did like the sister Go!