Getaway Girl: A novel and critical introduction

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: The Getaway Girl is a novel that has undergone extensive revisions in terms of both form and content since the earliest drafts of several now discarded chapters were written for graduate fiction writing workshops beginning in 2003. Set in an upper middle-class suburb of Kansas City, MO, it conforms to traits associated with the novel of manners and, although the novel does not resemble it stylistically, it is most heavily influenced by the work of Evan S. Connell. Elizabeth Bowen's novel, The House in Paris , serves as its structural model.

Findings and Conclusions: The novel explores what George Lukacs believes to be the defining characteristic of the genre: the hero's quest to find a home in an alienating world. It takes advantage of the genre's flexibility by disrupting chronology and employing two different third-person point-of-view characters. It also develops character and voice through the technique of narrated monologue. While the majority of novels set in the suburbs of America portray them negatively, this novel aims for a more favorable treatment. It argues that life in the suburbs is the closest thing to home the hero can hope to find. Themes of the novel include grief, regret, family life, the suburbs, and the search for home.