Rebecca Makkai describes her book, I Have Some Questions for You, as a literary feminist boarding school murder mystery. September seems like the perfect time to read a story with this description.
The main character, Bodie Kane, is a successful professor and podcaster in California. When Granby, the New Hampshire boarding school she attended, invites her to return and teach a class on podcasting, she revisits her own four years there. Bodie had been an outsider, and she has spent a lifetime burying the dark memories. They resurface when one group of students wants to create a podcast series based on the murder of her roommate, Thalia Keith, in the spring of their senior year.
Granby’s athletic trainer, Omar Evans, was convicted of the murder and has spent the past 20 years in prison.
At the time, Bodie doubted Omar’s guilt, and as her students begin to investigate the crime for their podcast, more evidence is unearthed. Is he a victim of wrongful incarceration?
There were other suspects. Was it Mr. Bloch, the music teacher? His wife? Thalia’s boyfriend, Robbie? Or even Bodie? She does not trust her own memories of the night now that she is back on campus, so I Have Some Questions for You becomes a story about the accuracy of memory, too.
Makkai wrote the book as a letter of accusation to someone. As Bodie sifts through her memories from 1995 and the evidence she and her students discover, the reader learns to whom. If you are a fan of true crime and cold cases, then add this one to your ‘To Be Read’ stack.
Look for this recommendation and other books at Knox County Online Library or your local independent bookstore each week.
Linda Sullivan is an avid reader and wants to make you one, too. For more recommendations or just to talk books, reach out to her at thebookwhisperertn@gmail.com. She can also be found @thebookwhisperertn on Instagram.