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The new book is populated with characters pursuing clean slates, attempting to leave behind addictions or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into violence. The author frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through recurring use. Sentences like "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the story. Meanwhile, the author herself is embarking on her personal new beginning, because this seems a novel form of writing – fact-based, truly literary. But then it turns out to be filled with the recurring issues and approaches as earlier books.

From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book

Kraus was originally an visual artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, transforming intimate women's literature from self-debasement into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the next trio of fascinating and rebarbative novels missed the impact and rawness that the epistolary style infused into the voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a nonconformist creator who had become a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It follows that she presently aims to try out fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a period in which she asserts that current political era makes confessional writing unnecessary.

Three Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning several time periods – none able to break free from their pasts. There is the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, moving from the Bronx to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the guise of a figure named Catt Greene, confronting the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a community long abandoned by progressive politics only 80 miles from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader attracted to polished prose of the sort the author herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the narrative style of the first section.

Being a reader who favors honed writing of the kind that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the first section. It possesses a fresh level of observation that accommodates minutiae, like the container that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, assisted by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". She tells Emma's story with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was fated to feel let down when I hoped this different style could last out the book. The author states here that she is annoyed by the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disruption, to the messy artistic approach she echoes from her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels returns in the middle section. The protagonist is trying to renovate three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between two different states, unable to aid Paul control his drinking. She feels helpless as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a environment fueled by the hostility and dread that powers Trump's victory. A significant portion discusses about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her listed profession modified from "author" to "real estate holder" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. At one point she remarks that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an America that her Twitter detractors would fail to comprehend, would not even see".

The Murder Narrative

Thus we arrive to the murder itself – and the referenced day passed by the victim with the murderer and his companions. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, loitering having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by her romantic interest Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking tussle in this section. Yet I wished her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par