I read this novel as an e-book purchased through Bookshop.org. If you, like me, have been relying on Kindle e-books for a while and want to stop supporting that dickhead Bezos, check out Bookshop. They have a selection of e-books that is somewhat limited but they are very good offerings nonetheless. Moreover, when you make a purchase, Bookshop will donate a percentage of the sale to the independent bookstore of your choice. Buying books has never felt more virtuous!
Anita de Monte Laughs Last is, so far, my favorite read of the year. I didn’t want to put it down. Be warned, however, that there are some triggering events described in here related to relationships that are abusive, both emotionally and physically. Anita de Monte Laughs Last is the story of a fictional artist named Anita de Monte and of a college student named Raquel some 10 years after Anita’s death. Anita and Raquel’s lives share some interesting parallels. Both women are Latinas; Anita is a Cuban exile and Raquel is from a a Puerto Rican family in Brooklyn. Both women become romantically involved with powerful white men in the art world, and both women struggle with a desire for love/being needed vs a fierce need for independence. Author Xochitl Gonzalez shows the minefield that women, especially women of color, have to negotiate in both personal relationships and in the snobby white male dominated art world. Anita’s foil is Jack Martin, a titan of American sculpture and outdoor art installations; he is a huge man, physically and metaphorically, and he is a narcissist. He and Anita have a dysfunctional relationship that causes Anita no end of grief professionally and personally. In fact, her grief and righteous anger persist after her untimely death in the 1980s; Anita becomes a ghost and remains an active character in the novel. It might sound weird, but I loved this part of the novel, I loved that this strong woman continued to fight for herself beyond the grave, and I loved the way Gonzalez wrote it.
Fast forward to the 1990s and Raquel is an art history major at Brown University. Her advisor has made a career studying the works of Jack Martin, and Anita decides to write her senior thesis about Martin. Raquel is a brilliant student, but there is a lot going on in her personal life that causes her to question herself and whether she deserves her place at Brown. On one hand, she has formed friendships among the “third world” students at the university; on the other, the students at Brown, particularly in her major (art history), are predominantly privileged and white. There is an incident with some of her fellow female art history students that is very disturbing to read as it is racist and abusive. Raquel becomes a target because she is a favorite of her advisor, she has secured a summer internship under a feminist professor at an art gallery, and she has attracted the romantic interest of Nick Fitzsimmons. Nick is a graduating art senior whose works are already getting positive attention, although that might have more to do with his influential family than his actual ability. Nick is a big fan of Jack Martin’s art and seems to be following in that man’s footsteps in more ways than one.
The relationships that Anita and Raquel have with their white boyfriends can be very hard to read; manipulation, emotional abuse and even physical abuse abound. It is also disturbing to read about the treatment of minority women by the white art world, particularly by other women who seem to worship white male icons like Jack Martin. These affluent women believe that women like Anita and Raquel are only where they are because of their ability to manipulate strong white men. Anita and Raquel come to points in their life (or afterlife) where they have to decide if/how they will fight for their survival, for their right to exist as they are, and not have to change themselves to fit white expectations and demands. The theme of erasure and fighting against it is central to the novel.
Gonzalez’s combination of cultural critique, feminism, and magical realism really got and held my attention. I’m glad I read Thick before this novel, as it alerted me to the racism, classism, and misogyny that define Black women’s experiences in academia and elite professional circles. This novel is a great pick for the transition from Black History Month to Women’s History Month.