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The new book is populated with characters chasing after fresh starts, attempting to leave behind substance abuse or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into conflict. The author often employs the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the narrative. At the same time, she appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, because this presents as a novel form of writing – documentarian, truly literary. However it reveals itself to be laden with the familiar conflicts and styles as her previous works.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

Kraus began as an creative who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from abjection into assassination. She continued writing, but the following three engaging and challenging novels lacked the impact and rawness that the letter form infused into the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a renegade artist who had turned into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It is logical that she currently desires to explore different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a moment when she asserts that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative unnecessary.

Several Eras, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering several time periods – all unable to escape their backgrounds. We encounter the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, relocating from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. There is the account of Kraus, in the guise of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one lost young man by another in a town largely deserted by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.

From my perspective as a reader drawn to refined literature of the kind Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was captivated by the narrative style of the first section.

Being a reader who favors precise prose of the style that the author tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the first section. It possesses a fresh level of observation that accommodates small details, like the pail that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, helped by her beloved father. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she declares; "a great plaything", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". She tells the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."

Frustration and Disruption

I was fated to feel let down when I expected this new voice could persist to the end. Kraus notes here that she is annoyed by the pleasure readers like me have taken from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the unpolished style she shares with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the central part. Catt is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between two different states, unable to aid Paul manage his alcohol use. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a society propelled by the hostility and dread that drives a political win. There are several pages about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her occupation changed from "writer" to "property owner" on a reference site. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. At one point she says that she's investigating the murder so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".

The Homicide Account

So then we come to the homicide in question – and the referenced day spent by the murdered individual with the perpetrator and his friends. The author possesses great source material, and details moment by moment what occurred as Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, wandering about fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who comes alive partly through the protagonist's connection to her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in jail, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par