I loved Wolitzer’s earlier book, The Interestings, and in some ways this young adult novel seems like an offshoot thematically. Instead of a summer camp in upstate New York, the characters in Belzhar are at The Wooden Barn, a “therapeutic boarding school” for teens in Vermont. This is basically Jam Gallahue’s story; she was sent to this school because she has been mourning the death of her British exchange student boyfriend for too long. Jam is chosen to be part of a special topics class on Sylvia Plath (an odd choice, I have to say, considering the locale) taught by Mrs. Quenell, a teacher nearing retirement and her classmates are a group of misfit toys—all dealing with some trauma from the past.
This is where the book turns away from the real world of The Interestings into something else altogether because Mrs. Quennel gives all her students a journal and asks them to write in it each week. However, when they do, strange things happen; they go to a time BEFORE whatever trauma they encountered. For example, Jam gets to hang with her boyfriend, Reeve. However, as one might expect, this opportunity comes at a price.
Wolitzer makes a couple plot decisions that I don’t love, but this novel is a good meditation on grief and moving on and on the power of great literature.
I got an advanced copy of this from a friend whose editor raved about it. I’m sorry to say it petered out midway through for me. Is three stars good enough to encourage someone pick it up again?
I feel like three stars is my “it’s fine” rating–and that may be partly “bleed over” from The Interestings. If this were Sound Opinions, it would be my “burn it” rating (on the buy it, burn it, trash it scale). I would encourage you to finish it, just to see where Wolitzer takes it. This would make a good book club book precisely because I can predict some wildly different reactions to the ending.