Pella and Irma, classmates at Westish College in Wisconsin, share a deep friendship despite growing apart. Pella, a newly engaged divorcée and former wild child, has recently graduated, while Irma, a rising academic star from a rural Catholic background, is gearing up for her senior year. Their relationship, once vibrant with weekly independent study sessions reading authors like Edith Wharton, now feels strained. Pella is busy planning her friend Owen's wedding, while Irma's uncharacteristic decision to attend parties without informing Pella highlights their growing distance.
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In Chad Harbach's new novel, "The Brightness" (Little, Brown), which spans nearly 700 pages, the narrative primarily unfolds over several late-summer days in 2015. At Owen's wedding, Pella's engagement falls apart, exacerbating the rift with Irma. Irma becomes involved in a campus prank aimed at raising awareness about sexual assault, which eventually spirals into a national incident. As the following nine months of the women's lives unfold—Pella in New York and Irma in Westish—they find themselves at similar crossroads, lacking direction in their lives.
Pella and Irma navigate their aimlessness while contrasting with others who have clear ambitions and careers. They find themselves resisting conventional identities, similar to how people with curly hair might reject the pressure to conform. Readers of Harbach's previous work, "The Art of Fielding" (2011), will recognize familiar names and settings, as "The Brightness" acts as a metafictional sequel where Owen's book serves as a backdrop to examine both character and authorial development.
Irma has distanced herself from Pella to plan a prank involving temporary tattoos that declare "RAPE VICTIM" on passed-out athletes. This leads to a viral moment when one athlete appears on Fox News expressing outrage over the prank. The narrative captures the mix of motivations behind youthful political actions, revealing both naivety and bravado. Events escalate, drawing media attention while exposing the inadequacies of campus rape prevention efforts.
Irma views herself as a bystander in the larger issue of sexual assault but soon realizes the personal stakes involved as tensions rise. As her friend Dahlia's struggles become more evident, Irma grapples with her inability to understand the depths of their situation. Harbach’s portrayal of Irma emphasizes the conflict between personal identity and social expectations, inviting readers to reflect on the complexity of human relationships.
The novel touches on the dynamics of social status and reputation, especially as old friends reunite at Owen's wedding. Pella feels overshadowed by Owen's success and reflects on her own insecurities. The narrative explores the frustrations inherent in relationships between successful artists and their less accomplished friends, highlighting feelings of neglect and envy.
Despite these rich themes, Harbach sometimes overlooks larger social dynamics, presenting Westish as an overly benign environment devoid of the moral complications found in real-life college settings. As tensions build during the wedding festivities, both Pella and Irma confront their insecurities among peers, with Pella wrestling with feelings of inadequacy in the shadow of her successful friend.
Throughout "The Brightness," Harbach captures the essence of individuals at transitional points in their lives, exploring the interplay between ambition and emotional vulnerability. Irma, in particular, embodies the struggle to reconcile personal identity with the constraints of societal expectations. As a compelling portrait of loyalty and conflict, the novel invites readers to reflect on the intricacies of friendship, ambition, and the challenges of self-discovery in young adulthood.