Ocean State by Stewart O'Nan

Published by Grove Press on March 15, 2022

Marie Oliviera narrates pieces of Ocean State from an adult perspective as she recounts formative events of her childhood. Her family lived and had generational roots in Rhode Island. When she tells the story, Marie is the only family member who has not fled from the small town where she grew up.

At 13, Marie had a child’s “overdeveloped sense of justice.” She wanted everyone to be happy, “despite our actual lives.”  Marie had a reasonably close relationship with her mother Carol (despite Carol’s unsuccessful efforts to curb Marie’s overeating) but Marie wasn’t thrilled about Carol’s drinking or the men she dated. Marie had a slightly better opinion of Russ, who at least spent money on Carol, than she had of Wes, who owned guns and throwing stars and did cocaine. Marie’s father was mostly absent, but that didn’t stop him from getting into a dust-up with one of Carol’s boyfriends. It's that kind of family, which might explain why events unfold as they do.

Marie's narrative revolves around her older sister Angel. From almost the first page, the reader is aware that Angel killed a girl named Birdy Alves. Much of Birdy’s story is told from the perspective of a third person narrator. The first- and third-person narration combines to explain the escalating tension between Birdy and Angel. After about two-thirds of the story has has been told, Birdy disappears. The rest of the story addresses the aftermath of Birdy’s death.

Stewart O’Nan is an adult male, but he crafts a convincing portrayal of the drama that is so often central to teen female lives. Birdy is insecure, demanding, and driven by uncontrollable desires. After dating Hector for some time, she begins fooling around with Angel’s boyfriend, Myles Parrish. Birdy is willing to risk her relationship with Hector, in whom her interest has waned, to satisfy her craving for Myles’ attention. When an incriminating photo of Birdy and Myles appears on social media, Angel realizes that (1) she needs to keep Myles on a much shorter leash and (2) Birdy needs to be punished.

Myles is from a more affluent family and is probably out of Birdy’s league, but the same could be said of his relationship with Angel. He’s cheated on Angel before and apparently finds satisfaction in shagging Birdy. At least, he doesn’t seem capable of choosing between them until Birdy and Angel force the issue. Myles is a typical teenage male who goes along to get along, mindlessly following the directions of whichever girl he happens to be with when she gives him an ultimatum.  

Birdy spends much of the novel feeling humiliated as a consequence of her own choices (and of the tendency of teenage girls to shame each other). She gets emotional support from her married sister Josefina and from a clueless mother who means well. As a tale of two similar small town families, Ocean State makes the point that parents have little influence when they take on the impossible challenge of raising a teenage girl.

Ocean State also explores the theme of family secrets. Marie doesn’t want her mother to know about her secret snacking. Marie’s mother doesn’t want Birdy or Angel to know about her overlapping relationships with Russ and Wes. Understandably, Angel doesn’t want Marie or her mother to know about the conflict with Birdy that preceded Birdy’s disappearance. Yet secrets are impossible to keep from teens who relentlessly search bedrooms and eavesdrop on conversations to uncover hidden truths.

O’Nan creates palpable tension at the end of the novel as Angel’s lawyer negotiates her fate. As a teen, Angel is incapable of imagining the future. Any amount of time away from Myles is unthinkable. The idea that Myles might serve more time because he’s a male strikes her as monstrously unfair (which, in fact, it is). Angel’s internal struggle is fascinating because, from a standpoint of morality or practicality, she’s always focused on the wrong thing — a transitory love that adult readers understand is both meaningless and the root cause of her problem.

O’Nan managed the difficult trick of turning a teenage tragedy into a real tragedy — one that an adult can appreciate from an adult perspective while recognizing that the teenage perception of facts is vastly different. He makes the wise choice of all but ignoring the murder. A less mature writer might have sensationalized the story with tabloid details. O’Nan keeps the focus on the characters and how they respond to the drama of their own making. That choice brings literary merit to trashy content.

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