SELF CARE

A young Toronto woman finds connection with the most unlikely person.

At the start of Smith’s novel, freelance writer Gloria is living the millennial dream. She barely makes a living at a website where she writes a weekly column called “Daily Self Care”; has fallen into a power-unbalanced situationship with Florian; and is trying her best to navigate the horrors of the professional world and dating world alongside her best friend, Isabel. When a chance encounter on a subway platform puts her in the direct line of Daryn, an incel attending an anti-immigration rally, she finds herself intrigued and horrified. Under the pretense that she’s interviewing him for a story, Gloria starts to prod Daryn earnestly and sarcastically about his life, especially his horrifying views on women and modern dating. At one point, she aptly tells him his warped world view is simply narcissism: “You tell yourself you are hated because it makes you very sad and noble and romantic. And it gives you all kinds of excuses to do violent things and think hateful thoughts. But nobody thinks about you enough to hate you.” Despite her sometimes-cruel delivery, she realizes this stunted man will do anything she says and she takes the opportunity to do something new: dominate someone. She’s both drawn to and repulsed by Daryn, and their confusing relationship becomes increasingly intimate as they blur sexual boundaries. As Gloria spends her days working and nights with Daryn, she notices that Isabel is growing distant—posting provocative photos from hotel rooms and often unavailable for their gossip sessions. When an unimaginable tragedy befalls the girls, Gloria must try to hold her shattered world together as Daryn grows increasingly paranoid, angry, and abusive. Though hard to stomach at times, Smith’s writing is at its best when he’s skewering the often performative nature of sex, dating, and politics, as well as the solipsistic delusion of 21st-century life.

An uncomfortable, disturbing, and timely examination of relationships between men and women.