A popular, white, teenage girl is killed at the private secondary boarding school where she is a student. One of the few black men at the school is convicted of the murder. But was he guilty? Was the investigation good enough? The murder took place in 1995. Did the man fall victim to a legal system that was even more racist then than it is now? And if he is innocent: Who is the actual perpetrator? This mystery is the bloody red thread through American Rebecca Makkai’s interesting, but not one hundred percent successful, true crime novel. PRIZE WINNER: American Rebecca Makkai has written four novels and many short stories. The big breakthrough came with “The Great Believers” (2018), which is about the AIDS epidemic in Chicago in the 1980s. It won several awards, and was included in many “Best of the Year” lists in the USA. Photo: Larry D. Moore / CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons Back at the private school The main character is Bodie Kane. As a teenager in the 90s, he was a student at the boarding school. School time is tough. Also before fellow student Thalia is killed. Bodie is as happy as anyone that the trainer is quickly convicted of the murder. She has enough to contend with anyway. In 2018, things are better with Bodie. At least from the outside. She makes a popular podcast, and returns to school as a guest teacher on a podcast course. But when one of her students begins to dig into the murder of Thalia in 1995, Bodie realizes that perhaps everything was not quite as she and her fellow students thought over twenty years ago. She is forced to think again. Not just about the murder, but about much of what else she experienced as a teenager. Was the black coach acquitted? And did Bodie know things that could help the police clean him up? Throughout the book, Bodie speaks directly to a “you”, namely the man she now believes killed Thalia, but who was never caught. True crime podcast Makkai has a good ear for current topics. In “I have some questions for you”, she shows the good and more troubled sides of true crime, and of podcasts as a genre. What happens when you use real crime stories as entertainment? When the issues are discussed in online forums? When does the troll appear? Makkai suspects that the public will be hardened. Instead of individuals, victims of bloody violence are turned into props in formulaic narratives. They become a figure in “that” case, not to be confused with “that” other case, which is similar. Power on many levels Rebecca Makkai is preoccupied with power relations. The relationship between victim and perpetrator. Between those who rent and those who follow. Power within couples. Between teacher and student. Positions one gets because of skin colour, gender or orientation. Power you get and power you take. At her best, she manages to point out interesting points. In between, it might be a little too obvious what she is trying to do. Perhaps because “I have someone…” is simply a novel with a bit too many threads and themes. Because this is also a novel about metoo. About childhood trauma. On cancellation and appropriation. A court drama, and a classic depiction of growing up added to a closed school environment. Donna Tartt, Harper Lee – and “Serial” With great self-confidence, Makkai compares himself to many American classics with a similar theme. The court drama “Don’t Kill a Songbird” (1960) by Harper Lee and the college novel “The Secret Story” (1992) by Donna Tartt are two examples. The true crime podcast Bodie and the students end up creating is reminiscent of the classic “Serial” (2014) by Sarah Koenig. It was also about the wrong man being convicted of murder. The series set the stage for both podcasts as a medium and unsolved and/or missolved crime cases as content. The way Makkai writes himself up against the introduction works well. They give depth to the novel, which clearly has high ambitions to say things both on and between the lines. INSPIRATION: “I have some questions for you” plays with the subgenre “dark academia”, where dark stories take place in a closed school environment. Donna Tartt’s “The Secret Story” (1992) is a classic in the genre. It is also about a murder among students. Makkai also engages in dialogue with novels that deal with unequal power relations between teacher and student, such as “Min mørke Vanessa” (2020) by Kate Elizabeth Russell. Photo: Gyldendal/Aschehoug The past seen from the present The most interesting thing in “Jeg har noen…” is still not the murder of Thalia. There are the following questions: What happens to the past when you look at it through the glasses of today? Situations that as a young person accepted as “that’s just the way it is” – but as an adult discovers were way over the line. What do such discoveries do to the way one sees oneself, both who one is and who one once was? It is an interesting question. Enough to tell a whole novel. Sexualized bullying Back at school in 2018, Bodie remembers how one of the boys – Dorian – kept pestering him. Sexualized comments. Grabbing. Nodding. Embarrassing “jokes” everyone heard. Actually bullying, but in 1995 this was considered normal teasing. Metoo made many women think about the past, as Bodie does in the book: Was it really okay, what happened that time? Often the answer is no. At the same time, there is no doubt that even as a teenager you know things. Something happens when you remember. As one pushes today’s experience over previous experiences. Details have been lost. Often entire episodes. The memory is far from perfect. Makkai is clearly at her best when she explores these questions. Then there is commitment and enthusiasm in the text. No hard conclusions, but open wonder about interesting questions. “I have some questions for you” had turned on Makkai to cultivate this theme, instead of delving into sub-themes which she does not really explore anyway. But the novel is still worth reading. Especially for fans of “Serial” and “The Secret History”. There are many of them. news reviews Title: “I have some questions for you” Author: Rebecca Makkai Translated by: Hilde Stubhaug Genre: Crime Publisher: Kagge Forlag Number of pages: 540 ISBN: 978-82-48934776 Hi! I am a literary critic at news, with a special interest for Norwegian and translated fiction. Lately, I’ve been to a reading party with Jonas Hassen Khemiri and his “Sisters”, and a trip to Northern Ireland with Louise Kennedy’s “Transgressions”. Also read what I thought about the historical novels “Xiania” by Lotta Elstad and “Skråpånatta” by Lars Mytting!
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“I have some questions for you” by Rebecca Makkai – news Culture and entertainment
