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The new book features characters chasing after new beginnings, struggling to escape drugs or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into conflict. Kraus often employs the phrase "new beginning", rendering it intentionally weary through recurring use. Examples include "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" recur in the text. And yet, Kraus herself seems to be making her personal new beginning, because this seems a novel form of writing – observational, authentically narrative. But then it turns out to be packed with the familiar conflicts and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Accidental Writer to Renowned Book

Kraus started out as an artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, which was composed of missives to a distant beloved, transforming confessional female writing from abjection into assassination. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels missed the power and directness that the correspondence format brought to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her role as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on real estate deals. It makes sense that she presently aims to explore fresh narrative sources, directing her gaze to external narratives, at a time when she states that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing unnecessary.

Several Eras, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing several time periods – none able to break free from their pasts. We encounter the tale of Emma and Jasper, based on her own mother and father, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of Catt Greene, reckoning with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband her husband Paul. Finally the story of the murder of one directionless individual by another in a community largely deserted by progressive politics only 80 miles from Catt's cottage in a remote part of Minnesota.

As a reader attracted to refined literature of the type Kraus often avoids, I was seduced by the narrative style of the first section.

As someone who reads who favors crafted language of the style that Kraus tends to eschew, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the initial part. It exhibits a fresh level of observation that accommodates trivial aspects, like the bucket that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her adored dad. "Look, an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like hard candy". She tells the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."

Frustration and Disruption

I was destined to be disappointed when I hoped this different style could continue through the novel. The author states here that she resents the satisfaction those who appreciate polished prose have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the messy artistic approach she shares with her inspiration Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her previous novels reasserts itself in the middle section. Catt is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between the Midwest and the West Coast, failing to help her husband control his drinking. She experiences powerlessness as her spouse transitions between underfunded jobs as an substance abuse counselor in a society driven by the anger and fear that underpins Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on social media, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. At one point she states that she's looking into the killing so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an America that her social media opponents would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Homicide Account

So then we come to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day passed by the murdered individual with the killer and his companions. Kraus utilizes great source material, and reconstructs step by step what occurred as a man named Brandon came to visit Brittney after connecting via an application where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but appears congenially to have passed the day in the company of her associates, wandering about getting his car mended and funding treats and narcotics, before being shot by Brittney's partner Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has frequently been hospitalised for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I was fascinated by the way that the author's conflicting impulses towards responsible documentation and daring boundary-pushing tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who gains dimension in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a difficult, overlooked locality. Kraus notes that Catt speaks to Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par