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You Will Know Me A Novel Megan Abbott Books

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You Will Know Me A Novel Megan Abbott Books

This riveting book made my skin crawl. Ostensibly a mystery about a fatal hit and run, You Will Know Me delves into the world of women's gymnastics, a sport that began to repulse me when Bela and Marta Karolyi arrived on the international coaching scene in 1974. The young phenom Nadia Comaneci rocketed the Karolyis to fame. Gone were the days of Olga Korbut and the graceful beauty of Ludmilla Tourischeva. The Karolyis, who wanted winners at any cost, created a group of automatons. Their training methods were controversial. Several Olympic medalists later accused them of psychological and verbal abuse, as well as constant criticism of weight and body type. These young girls often worked with serious injuries and developed eating disorders. "I was intimidated. He looked down on me. He was six-feet something, and I was four-feet nothing.", said one of Bela's proteges.

It was with this backdrop that I read the story of the Knox family and Coach Teddy. Eric and Katie Knox are middle class parents of Devon, a remarkably talented young gymnast, and Drew, a highly intelligent fourth grader. Seemingly content with Devon's current coach, they are persuaded by Gwen, a wealthy gym parent, that Devon and the other gymnasts need a better coach.

They defect en masse to Coach Teddy's gym. Still not content with the facilities, Gwen convinces the boosters to pay for more, which brought a handsome young construction man into the story. The girls and even their mothers, who have no social lives, are intrigued.

The Knox family is obsessed with Coach Teddy and Devon's talent. They acquire massive debt. They have no life. Katie worries, after a conversation with Coach Teddy, that sixteen-year-old Devon, who has not yet begun menstruating, will develop breasts before her most important meet. While they spend every waking hour at the gym obsessing over Devon, young Drew is ignored.

Megan Abbott deftly and subtly shows her readers the fine line between passion and obsession. Just how far will these parents go to ensure the success of their daughters? The answer should have shocked me, but remembering the Karolyis real life story, I would have been more surprised by the opposite outcome.

Many people will disagree with me when I characterize the Knoxes and other parents as child abusers. If food is withheld from growing children whose talent is creating a science experiment (Drew, the forgotten son), would society accept that? The Knoxes complain about the money they spend on their daughter, but if not for her talent, they would be trapped in their humdrum life. Devon is their ticket to fame and fortune. The only victim in the story is young Drew.

It is rare when a book has such an effect on me. You Will Know Me is a beautifully written story that delivers a powerful message. Kudos to Megan Abbott!


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You Will Know Me A Novel Megan Abbott Books Reviews

I admit that my expectations for this book were high. Maybe too high. When this book was good, it was very, very good. But when it was dull...it was truly dull. In the end, the dull outweighed the good.

The characters were unique, the setting had potential, and the subject matters covered a lot of taboos. But, I didn't like it.
At one point, the mother in the book states that she lives in a "sick" house (double-entendre). It is an honest statement about the fractured and pathetic home in which she has built for her husband and children. The ending for me was expected and held little surprise. A lot happens to this family and it appears they learned nothing from their mistakes. I hugged my own girls a little tighter tonight after this nightmare of a fictional family.
'Less than five feet tall, a hard, smooth shell of a body. Hipless, breastless still, but the way she’d transformed her body in the last two years, thighs like trunks, shoulders and biceps straining her tank-top straps, staggered Katie.'

Abbott has hit a rich groove of material in exploring the darkness at the heart of girls' lives. She has sought out the noir inherent in their feverish, hidden worlds so now you look at cheerleaders with a bit of awe and maybe some fear. While teenage gymnast Devon is the center of this book, the story is told through her mother Katie's eyes. In classic noir fashion, what the narrator doesn't know fuels as much suspense as what she does know -- and wishes she didn't.

'Some people would always be jealous of Devon, the way they were jealous of all beautiful and brilliant things.'

It was brilliant that they released this in the midst of the Olympics while Simone Biles soared to victory. The contrast between the cheering crowds and the sordid small town life behind it give this story its power.

'“The greatest day of our life,” Devon said, and everyone laughed at the our, except it was true, wasn’t it?'

It's one thing to say a family makes sacrifices to get their child to Olympic level competition. It's quite another to see how far-reaching their are, from Katie's worry that she's neglecting Devon's little brother to her own isolation and fear. She watches the changes in her daughter obsessively, but there are changes in her husband Eric, too.

'It was such a power, one she could never match. Even more good-looking as the years skipped by, his features settling on himself, the hot gaze of booster moms and dads transforming him, he was always able to convey the feeling that he believed firmly in all the right things.'

It's a commonplace to say parents live through their children. Abbott shows how much they can lose themselves in that pursuit. Katie's own fears and body horror arise in her reactions to Devon's career. When they meet with the coach she blurts out the lurking shame and fear with such unconscious alarm that it shocks even her.

'“Devon’s going to get breasts, Teddy,” Katie blurted. “And hips. And everything else. She’s going to be a woman.”'

The tensions underscore the entire novel the murder, but even more so the hidden truths and fears that people reveal, sometimes without realising that's what they're doing. I figured out the 'solution' to the crime by chapter nine, but honestly, that is only a small part of what compels you through the book. As Katie begins to dig into the events leading up to it, what she increasingly discovers is what she doesn't know.

'That’s what parenthood was about, wasn’t it? Slowly understanding your child less and less until she wasn’t yours anymore but herself.'

And yet we make assumptions, so many assumptions. The horrible weight Katie feels from joking about her daughter's 'Frankenfoot' conveys so well the power of the stories we tell ourselves. Devon's own counter-narrative shows that point of view is everything in a story.

Abbott manages to slip in Vonnegut, Dylan Thomas and Joseph Heller without ever making the references feel laboured because Katie's voice feels authentic. We know more than she does, we put clues together, and yet each new revelation shows us there's so much more.

'Something was wrong, wronger than it even seemed. She just wasn’t sure what it was.'

Dive in you will know her. You might not like what you see, but you won't be able to look away.

'She hadn’t learned, no one had taught her...that the things you want, you never get them. And if you do, they’re not what you thought they’d be.'
This riveting book made my skin crawl. Ostensibly a mystery about a fatal hit and run, You Will Know Me delves into the world of women's gymnastics, a sport that began to repulse me when Bela and Marta Karolyi arrived on the international coaching scene in 1974. The young phenom Nadia Comaneci rocketed the Karolyis to fame. Gone were the days of Olga Korbut and the graceful beauty of Ludmilla Tourischeva. The Karolyis, who wanted winners at any cost, created a group of automatons. Their training methods were controversial. Several Olympic medalists later accused them of psychological and verbal abuse, as well as constant criticism of weight and body type. These young girls often worked with serious injuries and developed eating disorders. "I was intimidated. He looked down on me. He was six-feet something, and I was four-feet nothing.", said one of Bela's proteges.

It was with this backdrop that I read the story of the Knox family and Coach Teddy. Eric and Katie Knox are middle class parents of Devon, a remarkably talented young gymnast, and Drew, a highly intelligent fourth grader. Seemingly content with Devon's current coach, they are persuaded by Gwen, a wealthy gym parent, that Devon and the other gymnasts need a better coach.

They defect en masse to Coach Teddy's gym. Still not content with the facilities, Gwen convinces the boosters to pay for more, which brought a handsome young construction man into the story. The girls and even their mothers, who have no social lives, are intrigued.

The Knox family is obsessed with Coach Teddy and Devon's talent. They acquire massive debt. They have no life. Katie worries, after a conversation with Coach Teddy, that sixteen-year-old Devon, who has not yet begun menstruating, will develop breasts before her most important meet. While they spend every waking hour at the gym obsessing over Devon, young Drew is ignored.

Megan Abbott deftly and subtly shows her readers the fine line between passion and obsession. Just how far will these parents go to ensure the success of their daughters? The answer should have shocked me, but remembering the Karolyis real life story, I would have been more surprised by the opposite outcome.

Many people will disagree with me when I characterize the Knoxes and other parents as child abusers. If food is withheld from growing children whose talent is creating a science experiment (Drew, the forgotten son), would society accept that? The Knoxes complain about the money they spend on their daughter, but if not for her talent, they would be trapped in their humdrum life. Devon is their ticket to fame and fortune. The only victim in the story is young Drew.

It is rare when a book has such an effect on me. You Will Know Me is a beautifully written story that delivers a powerful message. Kudos to Megan Abbott!