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The Four Spent the Day Together is populated with protagonists seeking clean slates, trying to break free from addictions or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into conflict. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "new beginning", transforming it into willfully cynical through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the story. Meanwhile, the author herself is embarking on her personal new beginning, as this appears a new kind of book – documentarian, genuinely novelistic. Yet it reveals itself to be laden with the familiar conflicts and approaches as earlier books.

From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book

Kraus started out as an artist who entered the literary world unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, elevating confessional female writing from humiliation into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels lacked the shock and immediacy that the letter form imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a maverick maker who had turned into a extensive real estate holder, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It follows that she now wants to experiment with fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to other people's stories, at a period in which she states that current political era makes confessional writing obsolete.

Three Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, spanning three generations – each trapped by their pasts. We encounter the story of Emma and Jasper, versions of the author's parents, transitioning from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse a man named Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one lost young man by another in a locality largely deserted by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in the Minnesota countryside.

From my perspective as a reader drawn to honed writing of the kind the author herself often avoids, I was enchanted by the literary tone of the initial segment.

As someone who reads who appreciates crafted language of the variety that Kraus usually avoids, I was won over by the novelistic voice of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that allows space for small details, like the container that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, aided by her cherished parent. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he responds, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells the tale of Emma with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was destined to be disappointed when I wished this new voice could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's devoted to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the void and recurrence of her earlier works reasserts itself in the second segment. The protagonist is attempting to do up 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while traveling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unsuccessful in assisting Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as her spouse cycles through underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a environment fueled by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. A significant portion discusses about the protagonist facing cancellation on social media, her listed profession modified from "writer" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she says that she's researching the homicide so that before departing the state, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".

The Homicide Account

Then we reach to the murder itself – and the referenced day passed by the deceased with the murderer and his companions. Kraus has excellent raw material, and knows hour by hour what occurred as the victim Brandon came to meet Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day in the company of her associates, loitering fixing his automobile and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.

Fascination and Incompletion

The protagonist becomes fixated by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression wrestle in this part. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl derailing in a troubled, forgotten town. The author informs us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par