Out of all the novels I have read, Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow is the most tragic depiction of what it means to be a teenager battling mental health and the tumult of life. Indeed, what makes the novel tragic is its realism, reminding the reader that the novel is not just some story, but represents the stories of millions of young adults trying to find the strength within themselves to live yet another day.
17-year-old Charlie Davis has experienced more in her life than anyone would expect, from her father passing to surviving an abusive relationship with her mother, getting kicked out, living on the street, abusing alcohol and drugs, to surviving a house where young girls were forced into prostitution.
Glasgow introduces the reader to Charlie in a way most authors do not — through unusually short chapters filled with menageries of Charlie’s thoughts and feelings. Through those thoughts and feelings, Glasgow allows the reader to put the puzzle pieces together, introducing Charlie as a patient in a psych ward for self-harm. At first, it is difficult to understand exactly what is going on in the book, which is the perfect way for the reader to fall right into the tumult of Charlie’s heart and mind.
As the story progresses, the menageries form into full sentences, showing Charlie’s attempt to put the pieces of herself back together. After being released from the psych ward, Charlie moves out to Tucson, thanks to her friend Mikey, a boy Charlie has serious romantic feelings for. During her stay in Tucson, Charlie tries to make a better life for herself by getting a job, where she meets a semi-famous musician by the name of Riley West; the spark between Charlie and Riley was undeniable. Being friend-zoned by Mikey and having failed her attempt to have a relationship with Riley—as he was a reflection of Charlie’s pain—made Charlie realize that focusing on herself is the best thing she can do.
Buying her own apartment, Charlie begins to live an independent life, giving all of herself to learn how to cope and never return to her old ways. After another heartbreaking argument with Riley, Charlie reaches her breaking point, where she is taken care of by her coworkers-turned-friends, Linus and Tanner. On their way to their grandfather Felix’s house in New Mexico, Linus and Tanner bring Charlie with them, where Charlie finds peace by being surrounded by nature and letting her pain out the only way she knows how: through art. As a fellow artist himself, Felix notices Charlie’s artistic talent and invites her to work with him as his assistant. This offer makes Charlie realize that this is her only way out to find peace between herself and the world.
Glasgow’s emotional representation of “the girls who write their pain on their bodies” shows that those who self-harm are not alone and that those who write their pain on their bodies are seen.
