The final reveal brings more relief from fatigue than surprise.įrank O Smith is a Maine writer whose novel, “Dream Singer,” was a finalist for the Bellwether Prize. The maze of twists is burdensome and confusing, and it becomes difficult to distinguish who exactly is who.

Unfortunately, in the last quarter of the book, the story becomes so permeable, it takes on a hallucinatory cast that threatens the reader’s ability to follow it. Kit, she learns, has been groomed by “Teacher” to be her handpicked assistant and confidant. Natalie is eager to find her sister to tell her what really occurred after their mother’s death some years earlier, but try as she might, she cannot locate her. The careless stunt costs the life of a devoted assistant. In another, she submerses herself beneath the ice of a frozen lake, seeking to set a record for remaining underwater without air. Natalie’s adult backstory is that of a performance artist with a large following, who are attracted by her mesmerizing, dangerous stunts. As the book progresses, those shifts breed a sense of disassociation with reality, an atmosphere intensified by name changes of main characters between, and even within, chapters. The chronology in “This Might Hurt” is porous, sliding between distant past, near past and the present. “Teacher” is assisted by eager devotees, whose discipline vacillates between firmness and threat. The center is run by an elusive woman known as “Teacher,” who retreat residents adore and constantly try to curry favor with. Tight control dominates the island culture, she quickly learns. In Maine, Natalie forces her way onto the private boat that ferries new arrivals to Wisewood. He presses his foot against her fingers on the dock ladder, forcing her into the wintry waters.Įven after the sisters grow up and leave home, “Sir” continues to instill shame and fear in them. In one, he forces the young Natalie to lower herself fully dressed into the frigid lake behind their house.

They are compelled to call him “Sir.” He forces them to perform meaningless, demeaning tasks to accumulate points to earn privileges. “This Might Hurt” follows along as the sisters undertake to liberate themselves from the abuse and the binding, blinding shame their father bred in them, borne of his cruel, sociopathic narcissism. She departs immediately for the long drive to Maine.

This might hurt by stephanie wrobel