My Phantoms

My Phantoms is a 2021 British novel by Gwendoline Riley, first published in the UK by Granta. The novel is Riley's seventh.

Summary

Bridget Grant is a vegan and a scholar who lives in London with her boyfriend, John. From the age of 14 she is estranged from her father who she recalls from custody visits as a bullying, attention seeking man. His own twin sister does not attend his funeral and advises Bridget to do the same.

Bridget has an equally difficult with her mother, Helen 'Hen'. In adulthood they only communicate around birthdays and Christmas. Though Bridget's mother repeatedly boasts about her active social life she struggles to make friends. Bridget keeps the details of her own life careful separate from her mother.

Reception

My Phantoms was met with wide praise. According to Book Marks, the book received "rave" reviews based on 13 critic reviews with 10 being "rave" and 3 being "positive".^[1]

In a review published by The New York Times, Lidija Haas compared Riley to Anton Chekov and Mary Gaitskill.^[2] CBC praised the novel as "a bold, heart-stopping portrayal of a failed familial bond".^[3] The Guardian also praised the work as a "devastating, quietly brutal novel".^[4]

References

1. "My Phantoms". Book Marks. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
2. Haas, Lidija. "Can We Escape Our Parents or Are We Fated to Become Them?". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
3. "My Phantoms". CBC. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
4. Preston, Alex. "My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley review – broken familial bonds". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2023.