It’s nearly impossible to classify Darcey Bell’s fourth novel, “Woman of the Year.”
The short novel published in March 2023 combines one of Sigmund Freud’s best-known studies with #MeToo and long-simmering revenge. Bell’s writing is simple, brisk and imbued with the bitterness, disappointment and bottled-up frustration of her tragic protagonist, Lorelei Green.
Bell’s debut, “A Simple Favor,” made her a household name for twisted female friendships gone wrong. And the kindergarten teacher’s newest work keeps with that theme with a more prescient topic.
Character Analysis
Characters:
Laura Lee “Lorelei” Green
Holly Snopes Serpenta
Professor John James “Dell” Randall
Professor Otto Muller
Otto Muller Jr.
Laura Lee “Lorelei” Green is a middle-aged woman troubled by an illicit relationship with psychology professor Dell Randall 20 years ago when she was a senior at Woodward College. She harbors a grudge against her former best friend, Holly Snopes Serpenta, and spends years tracking her and, ultimately, plotting revenge.
Holly Snopes Serpenta, a scholarship student at Woodward College, now serves as one of its best-known alumni. She’s made a career out of helping less-fortunate women and wrote a #MeToo article in a newspaper sharing her experience with Professor Randall at Woodward. Holly is Lorelei’s number-one enemy and the focus of her long-simmering resentment.
Professor John James “Dell” Randall is the prodigal son who’s returned to Woodward College as a psychology professor after spending two years in Zurich. He’s the heir apparent to esteemed Professor Otto Muller, who runs Woodward’s psychology department and animal lab experiments.
Professor Otto Muller from Vienna was recruited by the U.S. government, then Woodward College, for his knowledge of mind control. Muller even used his much younger wife and two children, Otto junior and Anna, as part of his experiments.
Otto Muller Jr. grew up the awkward bespectacled son of Professor Muller who was forcibly renamed Paul by his parents because they considered him such a disappointment. He also learned to faint on command and developed an unrequited crush on Lorelei.
Plot Summary
Told exclusively from Lorelei’s point of view, “Woman of the Year” switches between 2023 when she’s an unemployed fortysomething and 2001-2004 when she was a college student.
In the past, the pretty blonde New Yorker is the only child of cold, uncaring parents who pay her little mind. As a conventionally attractive woman, Lorelei sees herself an American version of Catherine Deneuve from the 1967 film “Belle de Jour.”
She enrolled in Woodward College in Massachusetts shortly after the Sep. 11, 2001 attacks and began studying psychology. The secluded university and its sterling reputation were supposed to protect Lorelei and students like her.
The current Lorelei has spent months plotting revenge against Holly Serpenta at the Woman of the Year gala. Holly will be receiving the distinguished award surrounded by her adoring fans. Lorelei disguises herself as Miranda DeWitt, a recent divorcee, and sneaks walnut oil onto Holly’s salad to cause an allergic reaction to make her sick at the event.
While sitting at the far back table, Lorelei recalls, in painful detail, the events leading her to internet stalking Holly, hiding her identity, and going to great lengths to harm the beloved celebrity.
Lorelei’s first three years at Woodward were uneventful and focused exclusively on classwork. At the end of her junior year, she registers for a competitive group class taught by the manipulative and charismatic Professor John James “Dell” Randall who insists her given name Laura Lee doesn’t suit her and she’s really Lorelei, a reference to a mythological siren whose beauty caused men to crash their ships.
Dell’s renaming of Laura Lee to Lorelei mirrors Freud’s case study of Dora. Taking away or masking her original identity and learning of her isolated lifestyle gives him leverage for his plans.
The naive student’s so taken by the professor’s compliment that she legally changes her name over the summer while working as a receptionist and having an affair with a married man. On a date with her lover, Lorelei finds a stray tabby named Pyewacket, with whom she immediately connects and considers him her closest friend.
When Lorelei returns to Woodward for her final year, she moves into an off-campus apartment by herself with Pyewacket. Her infatuation with Dell intensifies as she sees him in Interpersonal Relations 121, but he ignores her until the male students make passing comments about trying to impress her.
The challenging group course does introduce Lorelei to her only human friend, Holly Snopes. They hang out after class at Lorelei’s apartment with Pyewacket and trash talk fellow students and Woodward’s faculty.
Several months into IP 121, Dell appears at Lorelei’s apartment unexpectedly and seduces her with charm and a vampire tulip. Their tryst lasts six weeks with Dell refusing to properly end things, leaving Lorelei confused.
Lorelei of the present reflects on the short-lived romance with embarrassment and anger. Dell manipulated and traumatized her enough to change the trajectory of her life.
A few weeks into their relationship, the esteemed professor took her to Woodward’s animal testing lab in the basement and demonstrated his skill with the monkeys. She recalled with horror the sounds and smells of the labs as well as the rumors circulating around campus in the early 2000s. The scene left her nauseated and ashamed.
Dell’s biggest crime against his young paramour came when he invited her to Professor Muller’s house for dinner. The family’s strange behavior made her intensely uncomfortable and felt sorry for both son, Otto and daughter, Anna.
Shortly after the awkward Thanksgiving dinner, Dell ghosted Lorelei with no notice. Too embarrassed and confused to approach him, she accepted the relationship’s end. Lorelei attempted to attend her classes and carry on normally, despite her new single status and the distance in her friendship with Holly.
When Holly visited her apartment to use the bathroom, Lorelei immediately noticed that Pyewacket is gone. In his place is a similar-looking cat who hissed at her and hid in the closet.
Lorelei confronted Holly, who denied doing anything to the cat, and talked about it in the group course. Dell asked Lorelei to see him after she discussed the fake Pyewacket during class. He inquired about the cat switch, then he took some notes and concluded their talk.
Feeling betrayed and confused, Lorelei closed herself off from school. She laid in bed unbathed and only got up to feed the fake Pyewacket. Eventually, the school called her parents, who withdrew her from Woodward and took her home.
Lorelei’s depression lingered for six months after she returned home until a mysterious parcel with two photos of Pyewacket hooked up to wires in Woodward’s basement animal lab motivated her to confront Professor Muller. The elderly doctor gave her a quick tour of the labs and ignored her concerns about Pyewacket, but his behavior only strengthened her resolve.
Learning little from Muller, the college dropout took the bus home and got a job to support herself and escape her parents.
She worked at Cobrox for more than 10 years as a receptionist, then as an HR representative specializing in laying off workers before she was laid off. In the intervening years, she adopted many cats, but none compared to Pyewacket until she met Catzilla.
Catzilla earned his name from the moment Lorelei found him at the shelter. She described him as “silhouetted black cat arching its back and baring its teeth in a Halloween decoration.” He became her protector, cuddler, and the closest to Pyewacket for her affection.
Present-day Lorelei looks back on this troubled time with nothing but blame for both Holly and Dell. She’s pleased with her small act of revenge but is surprised to see the police approach her with news that Holly was strangled to death. She’s not a suspect, but they are talking to all attendees from the Woman of the Year event.
Lorelei suspects she’s in danger because of her past connections to Holly. A few years before her death, Holly wrote a #MeToo article about her experience being pressured into an affair with Dell. She detailed how he manipulated and threatened her, which led to him being fired from Woodward and moving to Mexico. Holly’s article mirrored Lorelei’s, but Holly didn’t mention her or other students by name.
A couple weeks after the news about Holly’s death, a grown Otto Muller visits her. The lanky child has grown into a strong, socially awkward man who wants to stab her to death. Like Lorelei, he resented Holly for ruining his life–her #MeToo article caused his father’s suicide–so he strangled her and is now coming for Lorelei. Holly’s original article included an inaccurate and exaggerated reference to Lorelei’s fate that was cut from the printed version.
While Otto attempts to attack Lorelei, Catzilla jumps on him, clawing and leaving scratches as the murdered cowers in the corner of Lorelie’s living room. Lorelei manages to record Catzilla’s defense on her phone with a shaking hand. She posts it to YouTube where it goes viral.
Catzilla, and, by extension, Lorelei soon become internet famous and work with the American Feline Protective Society and is named its Woman of the Year.
Final Thoughts
“Woman of the Year” reframes the idea of young women growing up before #MeToo.
Both Lorelei and Holly suffer at the hands of Dell and men like him. While Holly managed to recover and leverage her resources to help other women, Lorelei remained trapped by past hurt and anger.
Bell’s slim work also forces readers to re-examine how sexual politics on college campuses have changed in recent decades and what the #MeToo movement means for women outside of Hollywood. It also acknowledges how women can be complicit in the exploitation of their friends, and the lifelong effects such abuses of power have on their survivors.
“Woman of the Year” should be read by people interested in reading a different story about the #MeToo movement and seeing the crazy cat lady trope thoroughly upended.
Rating
My rating is 3.75/5 stars.
Book Details
Title: “Woman of the Year”
Author: Darcey Bell
Year of Publication: 2023
Number of Pages: 229
