Fruit of the Dead

Starred review from January 22, 2024
Lyon (Self-Portrait with Boy) puts a modern twist on the myth of Persephone and Demeter in this irresistible narrative of a naive teenager and her protective mother. Cory is an 18-year-old camp counselor and recent high school graduate with no plans for college when she meets pharmaceutical company CEO Rolo Picazo, the slick and wealthy parent of a young camper named Spenser, and accepts his offer to work as a nanny after camp is over. Dazzled by the $20,000 starting salary and promises of “advancement,” Cory ignores a red flag involving news of the company’s controversial new opiate, which is drowning in litigation due to overdoses. After she joins Rolo on his remote private island in an unspecified ocean (on the way, Cory calls her mother, Emer, with the news of her new job and living situation, and says she’s unclear on the geography), the nanny arrangement takes on a sinister cast as Cory learns that one of her predecessors has mysteriously vanished. There’s also an unnerving absence of Wi-Fi, and Emer grows increasingly worried as Cory remains unreachable. Eventually, Emer embarks on a search and rescue mission to save her “distractible, undisciplined” daughter from Rolo’s sinister clutches. The story is brilliantly told through Cory’s and Emer’s alternating perspectives, as Lyon volleys from vibrant third-person narration focused on the teenager to her mother’s frantic first-person inner monologue. The result is an affecting, engrossing, and resonant tale about lost innocence and the enduring bond between a mother and daughter. Agent: Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, Gernert Co.