The Unsettling Allure of Desire: Laura McPhee-Browne’s Worry Doll

Laura McPhee-Browne’s novel Worry Doll explores the complexities of desire, leaving readers to question the nature of power and intimacy. At its surface, it appears to be a tale of an affair between two women, Heloise and Lacey. However, as one delves deeper into the narrative, it becomes clear that this is a story about how desire can insidiously consume us.

McPhee-Browne’s writing is masterful in its subtlety. She expertly weaves together the perspectives of both women, creating a complex web of emotions and desires that blurs the lines between truth and fiction. The reader must navigate this intricate landscape, piecing together fragments to understand Heloise’s affair.

One of the novel’s most striking aspects is its refusal to simplify the complexities of desire. Unlike many novels, Worry Doll acknowledges that truth is inherently elusive. Readers are left with more questions than answers, forced to confront the fact that our understanding of desire is filtered through our own biases and experiences.

Heloise’s character is a fascinating study in contradictions. She appears to have it all: a stable relationship, a fulfilling career, and a comfortable lifestyle. Yet beneath this façade lies a complex web of insecurities and desires that threaten to upend her entire world. Her affair with Lacey is less about the thrill of something new than it is about filling the voids within herself.

Lacey is an enigmatic figure who disrupts Heloise’s carefully constructed reality. She embodies the chaos and unpredictability at the heart of desire, refusing to be contained or understood. McPhee-Browne astutely observes that Lacey feels like a grenade – unpredictable and explosive.

The novel’s exploration of power dynamics between the two women is equally thought-provoking. Is Heloise the aggressor, seducing Lacey with her charms? Or does Lacey hold the reins, manipulating Heloise to her whim? The truth, much like desire itself, remains elusive.

Worry Doll refuses to shy away from the messiness of human experience. McPhee-Browne’s writing is unflinching in its portrayal of the body – with all its leakages and eruptions. She grants these aspects equal dignity and weight, refusing to tidy them up or make them palatable.

In this sense, Worry Doll is a novel about the ordinary business of having a body. It reminds us that our desires are not something to be ashamed of or hidden away but rather celebrated in all their messy complexity. McPhee-Browne astutely notes, “the most unsettling horrors are the ones we invent to make our obsessions – our appetites – feel reciprocal.”

Reading Worry Doll left me feeling unsettled and uneasy, yet in a way that was strangely liberating. It forced me to confront the complexities of human experience and acknowledge the ways in which desire can consume us.

Worry Doll is a breath of fresh air in an age where so much is sanitized and curated. It’s a reminder that our desires are messy, complicated, and worth exploring.