Year of Award

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Degree Name

Creative Writing (Fiction)

Department or School/College

Department of English

Committee Chair

Emily Ruskovich

Commitee Members

Robert Baker, Neva Hassanein

Keywords

feminism, mental illness, sexuality

Publisher

University of Montana

Subject Categories

Fiction

Abstract

This excerpt from the novel Water Lake takes place at an undisclosed time in an undisclosed American location called Water Town. It primarily follows Jason and Holly, who are employees at Water Hardware and lifelong residents of the insular, religious, isolated town. Water Town is in constant industrial and environmental decay and hosts many mysterious natural and social phenomena such as an unusual amount of animal deaths, a gender ratio skewed disproportionately towards men, and a single seal in a local body of water hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean. During an episode of impulsivity induced by neurological trauma, a strange and erratic woman named Cheryl visits Water Town and immediately wreaks physical and interpersonal havoc on its citizens. Jason does not know what to make of her and Holly falls in love with her. The novel consists of vignettes of each their pasts and presents as well as other anecdotes from around the town.

There are seven other stories in this collection. “Predator” is the tale of a toxic engagement told in retrospect from the perspective of a deranged woman. “You Are Here” is an account of an ambiguous wildfire and an unnamed character’s descent into madness. “Life Cycles” is an exploration of the natural and artificial aspects of sexuality. “The Only Whore in Ritzville” features a troubling encounter between a prostitute and a policeman. “Real Taxi” is a critique of the horrors of the pornography industry in which a man is lured into a car by a demonic adult film actress. “The Pledge” involves a college student’s rejection from a sorority, which leads to a violent massacre against the sorority’s members. “Scalp Baby” is a stream-of-consciousness narrative that evokes Freudian concepts and the doldrums of working in the service industry; it also uses sixty-eight semicolons and no periods in six pages. The novel excerpt and stories are unified by themes of the perils of womanhood, social isolation, sexual exploitation, inner turmoil, tumultuous relationships, and a sense of impending inevitable doom.

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© Copyright 2023 Allison Rose Levy