Iphigenia Murphy by Sara Hosey was a welcome surprise from Blackstone Publishing. There were many things that didn’t jump out at me as I read the synopsis but then I started to read the book and everything changed. This tough and gritty 90’s New York setting was disturbing and yet brilliant all at once. Hosey was able to create a simple depiction of a teenage runaway with an enormous amount of power backing her. I’m nothing like the main character in situation or personality and yet I found so much that I could connect with and that impressed me. The relationships created in this story were heartwarming and it showed how rough loneliness really is.
Be warned that there is no exaggerating how dark this flash from the past is. There’s abuse, homelessness, broken homes, drugs, and sexual assault. This isn’t a cute and quirky read. This deals with real life and there’s no such thing as a perfect life. This is real, raw, and gritty. If any of these themes mentioned above are triggers, I would not suggest reading this because it’s tough.
The main character, Iphigenia Murphy is strong, smart, and resilient. She comes from a broken home with an abusive stepbrother, a missing mother, a shrewd stepmother, and a neglectful father full of regret and anger all towards her. There’s no wonder she runs away and like I said, nothing she goes through isn’t even remotely close to my own life but I could understand her. She was taking charge and doing something for herself. That takes a lot of courage especially for a fifteen-year-old and her adapting to living on her own in the park showed her resourcefulness and tough tenacity to escape her cruelly dealt hand in life.
“And Lizette’s mother’s ex-boyfriend used to hit her. And I knew, too, that what happened at home, in your real life, was different from the stories on Beverly Hills 90210 or what they talked about in school. Just totally disconnected, like all that stuff they said about domestic violence and molestation and abuse, it was all well and good, but it had nothing to do with what was happening to me, to any of us. You can’t just walk out of your own life, like they do on TV.”
This should definitely be adapted into today’s school curriculum because all these things that happen are true and relevant and important to voice. There’s something here that kids today need to read so they stop taking everything they have for granted. There are tons of life lessons to be had and hard truths that people like to forget but keep happening. Maybe not to them, but perhaps it’s someone they know or they’re neighbour etc. This has real life situations that are too important to be overlooked and this book does an EXCELLENT job at exposing it in a simple and effective way.
I was initially worried about the 1992 backdrop for the plot because it was another thing I couldn’t connect with having no real idea what it’s like to be Iffy, but it was still easy to understand. I wasn’t constantly looking up words, phrases, or events circa 1990’s because that wasn’t the purpose of the story, the description was simple and the plot and situations that happen to Iffy are unfortunately still a true reality for many today. This book opened my eyes to so many different things. You know when you think the world is going to end because you didn’t get that ‘A’ your parents wanted or when you finally find the courage to ask your crush out only to be cruelly rejected in front of the entire school, you see how frivolous and stupid those things are compared to Iffy’s struggles. You see that life really can be worse for others and you start to see how much you take for granted in your own life. It’s scary and real and unbelievably still relevant. Hosey painted an incredibly vivid story that followed colourful characters and crafted a work of writing with a raw simplicity packed with emotions.
“I blew out the candles. I wished. I wished so hard. I had learned my lesson from fairy tales, though, to never make your wish too specific. Like, if you wish for a lot of money, you might get a big check, but because, like, you lost your arm in an accident or something. So, I left it vague. I wish to be okay. I wish for us all to be okay.”
For someone who fell in love with the perfect fairytale ‘happily ever afters’ as a child, this resonated with me quite a lot. This girl is only 16, but she’s so wise and it’s sad because this book tells you why she’s like that. She had to grow up much younger than most and for her that in itself was a hard lesson she had to learn because otherwise she wouldn’t make it out alive.
“Well, I can be the brains and you can be the beauty,’ I said.”
“Oh, you got them both. I can be, well, I’ll just be the boyfriend.”
This book has an unexpected romance amid all the friendships and although it was an insta-love, I found it was sweet enough that the immediacy of the relationship wasn’t as noticeable as others are. Anthony was a sweetheart and he was the perfect match for Iffy. He never saw her as the girl from the broken home, or the girl who was her stepbrothers leftovers. She was just Iffy, the girl he met at the park, the one who lent him one of her precious books despite just meeting him. She took the chance on him and he saw how lucky he was to have met her rather than the other way around. He isn’t an arrogant ass and he’s never embarrassed by her. And one of the most important things to include about him was how he never doubted his relationship with her. Yes, there isn’t a perspective for him to show that but every scene with these two had him smitten for her. Ant and Iff for always!
I loved the author’s inclusion of how to pronounce Iphigenia’s name as well as the origins behind it because I live for that stuff! It’s probably one of the most unique names I’ve ever come across and that’s saying something because I’ve read a lot of fantasy books. One more nerdy but very important thing to include is one more applause for Hosey’s writing. It was very simple like I’ve mentioned countless times already (each time because of it’s immense importance) but this phrase stuck with me for the whole 283 pages of the book.
“And I knew what he would say if I asked, and it went something like, ‘Shut the fuck up,’ maybe punctuated with a slap.”
This is a first person narration/perspective and it not only sounds like a teenager, but it also has that wow factor to it. I can picture this exact phrase over and over again and every time it keeps every ounce of power behind it. I can hear that punctuated slap coming and flinch every single time. It’s chilling. It’s powerful. And it shows early on that Hosey has what it takes to deliver a strong piece of writing. She was brilliant and I’m beyond excited to see more from her. I was impressed with everything in here and I was incredibly glad for this book mail from Blackstone Publishing!
Iphigenia Murphy is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Running away from home hasn’t solved Iphigenia Murphy’s problems. In fact, it’s only a matter of time before they’ll catch up with her. Iffy is desperate to find her long-lost mother, and, so far, in spite of the need to forage for food and shelter and fend off an unending number of creeps, living in Queens’ Forest Park has felt safer than living at home. But as the summer days get shorter, it all threatens to fall apart.
A novel that explores the sustaining love of friendship, the kindness of strangers, and the indelible bond of family, Iphigenia Murphy captures the gritty side of 1992 Queens, the most diverse borough in New York City. Just like Iffy, the friends she makes in the park–Angel, a stray dog with the most ridiculous tail; Corinne, a young trans woman who is escaping her own abusive situation; and Anthony, a former foster kid from upstate whose parents are addicts–each seek a place where they feel at home. Whether fate or coincidence has brought them together, within this community of misfits Iffy can finally be herself, but she still has to face the effects of abandonment and abuse–and the possibility that she may be pregnant. During what turns out to be a remarkable journey to find her mother, will Iffy ultimately discover herself?
