The Daughter Ship

Trundle debuts with an inventive if convoluted portrait of a woman’s trauma. Katherine Burns lives in the suburbs with her two teenagers and successful, often absent husband. The fragmented narrative is told by various voices in Katherine’s head, with section headers signifying shifts between aspects of her splintered self: Star, who recounts how she started enjoying sex at 13; Truitt, captain of a metaphorical submarine that the various selves are traveling on; and Smooshed Bug, an eight-year-old who tries to stop Star from spiraling into a “dark place.” Katherine’s ancestors also show up, as does Katherine herself. Trundle opens with Truitt: “I want to introduce you to my girls. We all live together in a U-boat.... Somewhere underwater, and not too deep, is our submarine, a ghost ship, a wreck, a childhood.” As the disjointed story line progresses, there are hints of Katherine’s childhood abuse. When Katherine confronts her mother about it, she responds: “It takes two to tango.” In the present-day narrative, Katherine remains dedicated to her family, and seeks help in coming to terms with her past, eventually by checking into a mental hospital. While some of the voices are too similar in tone to track, Trundle convincingly portrays her protagonist’s warring inner life. It’s an intriguing exercise, though one that leaves the reader at sea. Agent: Alice Tasman, Jean V. Naggar Literary. (June)