Bloody Mary
By Sharon Solwitz

     The old children's game of Bloody Mary is going strong, particularly through new books such as Sharon Solwitz's first novel and the forthcoming "The Face in the Mirror" from Dan Norder. Perhaps the ritual of looking in the mirror in a darkened bathroom (a teenage girl's haven and horror) and chanting "Bloody Mary" that's been around at least since the 1970s takes on more significance in an angst-ridden rapidly changing manic society. The prospect of an unknown ghoul with blood dripping from her forehead glaring at you seems less real and less frightening than, say, September 11. Certainly it's less frightening than an epileptic suicidal mother having an affair, the onset of adolescence, and a perfect Jewish older sister who's found Jesus.

Claire Winger and her daughters Hadley (who plays and fears the Bloody Mary game) and Nora have taken a fall as a family and are trying to put themselves back together. This is symbolized by Claire's epileptic seizure in the first chapter during her botched attempts to pry up the house carpet in an attempt to remake the house. The stripping away of the carpet foreshadows the revelations of the family's insecurities and Claire's not-so-solid marriage to her husband Leo. Hadley lies about drinking Diet Coke for breakfast, never reads, conceals her romantic awakenings, and makes bad grades in school, while perfect Nora can be the unbearable opposite end of the spectrum. Meanwhile, Claire feels her grip on motherhood and normalcy slipping after Leo fails to protect her during an attempted holdup. Her attempted suicide continues the novel's dark metaphor of blood and propels her into a new existence.

     Despite the disapproval of her Dr. Laura-quoting fellow nurse Nancy, Claire, through the art classes she takes, begins a romance with the charismatic professor Bodey Marcus. Bodey parallels Hadley's first bad-boy love interest Nat, who Hadley meets after she discovers her mother's affair, consults Bloody Mary for advice, and gets the ghostly go-ahead to go, to take to the streets. While Bloody Mary never fully appears to Hadley in the expected fright scene, her seductive message insidiously changes Hadley's, Leo's, Claire's, and Nora's lives. Hadley's descent into (????does this sentence continue??). But Hadley and Claire at last find in each other a true mirror, a reflection of the complicated love between mothers and daughters.