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The new book centers on characters seeking new beginnings, trying to break free from substance abuse or abusive marriages, only to find hope curdling into conflict. Kraus often employs the phrase "fresh start", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He could make a fresh start" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the narrative. At the same time, Kraus herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, as this appears a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. But then it turns out to be laden with the familiar conflicts and approaches as earlier books.

From Chance Novelist to Cult Classic

Kraus started out as an artist who became a writer unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, converting confessional female writing from humiliation into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels did not possess the power and directness that the correspondence format infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. It didn't help was her identity as a maverick maker who had evolved into a extensive real estate holder, so there was considerable focus on property transactions. It is logical that she presently aims to explore different types of content, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a time when she states that current political era turns intimate literature unnecessary.

Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is divided into three sections, encompassing several time periods – all unable to escape their pasts. We encounter the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, representations of the author's parents, moving from the New York borough to rural Connecticut. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the character of Catt Greene, confronting the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her partner struggling with addiction Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a community mostly forsaken by progressive politics only a short distance from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.

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

As someone who reads who appreciates precise prose of the kind that the author tends to eschew, I was captivated by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It possesses a novel degree of detail that allows space for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the protagonist as a child pries out of frozen water at the opening of the book, helped by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a nice toy", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like piece candy". Kraus writes Emma's narrative with curiosity and intimacy. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not precisely her dream."

Frustration and Disruption

I was fated to feel let down when I wished this new voice could continue through the novel. The author states here that she is annoyed by the pleasure audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the unpolished style she has in common with her idol author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works comes back in the second segment. The protagonist is attempting to do up multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help her husband curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a world propelled by the anger and fear that drives a political win. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on a platform, her occupation changed from "writer" to "property owner" on the online encyclopedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. At one point she remarks that she's researching the homicide so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an the nation that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even perceive".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the homicide in question – and the referenced day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his associates. The author possesses compelling foundational content, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as a man named Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He was hoping for sex but seems amiably to have occupied the day alongside her friends, mooching around getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by her romantic interest Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for fits of anger.

Fascination and Incompletion

Catt gets obsessed by the account, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her individual preoccupations here. The compelling persona is Brittney, who comes alive partly through Catt seeing herself in her – a similarly gifted, tormented individual going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus notes that the protagonist communicates with Brittney in detention, but she omits the dramatization of these talks. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par