Then You Were Gone by Lauren Strasnick (review)

Adrienne doesn’t understand why her best friend, Dakota, ditched her abruptly two years earlier. Since then, Dakota has become a rising indie rock star while Adrienne has moved on to an L.A. teenagerhood of hip, permissive parents, pseudo-sophisticated midweek supper parties where everyone gets drunk, and midday sex with her attentive boyfriend. When Dakota goes missing and everyone assumes she’s committed suicide, Adrienne descends into an obsessive spiral of memories and attempts to recapture Dakota by dressing like her and getting involved with her ex-boyfriend. In the end, she rescues Dakota, whose affair with a teacher has gone wrong, but she has to come to terms with the fact that she doesn’t really like her formerly beloved friend any more and that much of her recent life has been lived in reaction to their friendship and its ending. Strasnick’s evocation of L.A. landmarks and hipster pastimes along with her exploration of dark themes in a somewhat dreamy style suggest a Francesca Lia Block homage, but Block’s is a singular talent, so this novel suffers by comparison. Indeed, Strasnick’s otherwise down-to-earth, grounded characters don’t match their affected and pretentious activities, making them read as not wholly credible for their age, even in L.A. Adrienne’s character arc is well handled, however, and her moves from grief and obsession to reluctant self-understanding and ultimate liberation will resonate with anyone who’s ever been caught up in the charisma of a destructive friendship.