So I'm writing this book review because I thought it was interesting to read book reviews and also I'm procrastinating from writing an essay about this book anyway so let's procrastinate productively.
The Engagement is basically about an English woman named Liese who is a real estate agent sunk in modern debt, that is, credit card bills from material things that so easily pull women into debt. So the first thing I noticed is how weird her name is because I pronounced it in my head like Lie-eese or Lie-eez but I found out later (near the end of the novel) that it was actually "Lee-ease". Maybe Hooper didn't want you to feel close to the character by displacing her name like that or maybe she wanted to choose some unique name for her heroine but I have another theory for that that I'll explain later. Anyway, she gets into a sexual affair with one of her clients (and I believe he is her only client in the novel) ((does that mean she's a bad real estate agent?)) and feeling like it's the right thing to do, he pays her for her services every time they fool around in someone's home and of course she does not object because she sees this as an opportunity to pay off her debts and enjoy it.
When Liese feels that she wants to end this relationship and leave the country to go back home because she is scared they'll be found out, Alexander (the guy) invites her to his Victorian mansion somewhere far out in the Australian outback where his family have made their fortune in the sheep industry. Things become eerie really quickly and there is a strong sense of dislocation, isolation and claustrophobia as Alexander physically and mentally traps her in an engagement which would free her of all her debt, give her a clean start to her new life as a farmer's wife, living in a large mansion and basically it's like a fairytale ending. But there's that really strange feeling and everything is just not quite right as you read from the perspective of Liese.
I'm trying not to spoil anything but it's really hard not to when there's so much to talk about.
Basically, her whole sense of identity is warped and you're driven further and further into a mystery involving debasing letters about her. In the end you're sitting there thinking, who is Alexander and who is Liese and who is real and who is delusional?
It is definitely a chilling read for those who like the gothic genre and is not as erotic as people might think because the sex scenes were made to be very bad on purpose. Like a realistic version of 50 Shades. Anyway, I was going to get back to her name. Her name feels like a play on words - specifically the word "lies". You never really know if she's true by the end so I figured that her name could be literally her whole identity. You don't know if she's a lie or if she was just being fed lies the whole time. Hooper just packed the whole story up quickly and while your head is still reeling she ends it and goes 'make of it what you will'. That's the amateur analysis of it.
Other from that, it was pretty enjoyable because it kept you guessing the whole way but you also enjoyed the thrill it gave you with the setting and the character of Alexander. He is almost always handling raw meat and innards in a very visual and disturbing manner and really has no problem talking about it or doing it. You also feel like you're losing your mind just as Liese does so that's also very unsettling.
And you can also read it in one sitting which is nice and neat.
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