Lessons from a Dead Girl (review)

The death of Leah Greene (was it an accident, or was it suicide by car?) causes seventeen-year-old Laine to re-examine her relationship with the troubled girl who had once been her best friend. In flashblacks, Laine recalls their friendship, starting in fifth grade, when beautiful and self-confident Leah turns her attention to the mousy Laine, who is seduced by the promise of a seat at the popular table. It turns out, though, that Leah has other seductions in mind: convincing Laine that they were "just practicing," Leah turns Laine into her sexual victim. Over the years, Laine figures out that her victimization is the result of a trickle-down effect, as Leah is herself being sexually abused by a friend of her father's. Laine eventually cuts Leah off and develops her own friendships, but Leah isn't content to let Laine go quietly, torturing her whenever they meet by suggesting that Laine enjoyed their intimate moments and therefore prefers girls. This is an intense story, but Laine's focus on her responses to Leah makes it seem as though this were the only thing going on in her life over the many years of their relationship, resulting in a limited, claustrophobic, and somewhat maudlin sense of Laine's character rather than a full, sympathetic portrait. Worse, the plot points emphasize the unfortunately prevalent ideological stereotypes that haunt this sort of problem fiction, namely that questioning one's sexuality is only ever the result of abuse, and the death of the sexually damaged girl is a troubling cliché. Laine's taking some measured responsibility for Leah's death because she couldn't see past her own fear and pain to understand Leah's is the main lesson readers are supposed to walk away with here; such broad-minded forgiveness and the honest assessment of one's own complicity after abuse between peers are certainly lessons worth serious consideration.