Things I Read: The Keep (Jennifer Egan)

The Keep is an interesting book, if mainly for the big ol' switcheroo it employs at the end. Much of the novel is devoted to Danny, a 30+ year-old hipster clinging to status symbols. His world changes one day when he's called by his Uncle Howard, a retired former financial guru, to a castle in rural Czechia. Danny is enlisted to get rid of a cranky, geriatric Baroness who's hold herself up inside the castle's keep (title drop). Along the way he discovers the fool he's being played for, while also coming to a vital realisation about the hollowness of his technology-saturated world... or does he??

Question marks because the novel subtly plays into a style of meta-fiction that means Danny's story isn't straightforward. In keeping with the light horror framework, there's a lingering sensation of strangeness throughout. Several chapters emerge to describe characters not associated with Danny or Howard. These pop up sporadically as it develops into a novel rooted in realism rather the fantastical qualities that anchor the main plot. Like her other novels, Egan aptly shows her talent as a writer of entertaining-yet-meaningful fiction. The Keep isn't her best work for me, but it demonstrates her best quality as a writer — the ability to draw out and sympathise with characters.