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This latest work centers on protagonists pursuing new beginnings, attempting to leave behind addictions or harmful partnerships, only to see hope turn into conflict. The author frequently uses the phrase "fresh start", making it deliberately jaded through recurring use. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" recur in the narrative. And yet, she seems to be making her own fresh start, as this appears a new kind of book – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. But then it reveals itself to be filled with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as earlier books.

From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work

Kraus began as an artist who transitioned to writing somewhat by chance with her 1997 seminal work I Love Dick, made up of epistles to an unresponsive love interest, converting confessional female writing from abjection into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the three subsequent engaging and challenging novels missed the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a renegade artist who had turned into a extensive real estate holder, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It makes sense that she now wants to explore fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to the experiences of others, at a moment when she claims that contemporary political climate renders personal narrative redundant.

Three Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning multiple eras – each trapped by their pasts. We encounter the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, based on the author's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to a pastoral setting. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of Catt Greene, reckoning with the delayed acclaim of I Love Dick, the emergence of Trump, and her partner struggling with addiction a man named Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a town largely deserted by liberal ideals only 80 miles from Catt's rural residence in rural Minnesota.

As a reader drawn to refined literature of the sort Kraus often avoids, I was seduced by the literary tone of the first section.

Being a reader who appreciates crafted language of the variety that the author tends to eschew, I was captivated by the novelistic voice of the opening segment. There is a fresh level of observation that allows space for small details, like the container that the young Catt dislodges from ice at the beginning of the narrative, assisted by her adored dad. "I discovered a frozen plaything!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the elliptical meanings of words rolling around in their mouths like piece candy". She tells the tale of Emma with curiosity and intimacy. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not precisely her dream."

Letdown and Fragmentation

I was fated to feel let down when I wished this fresh tone could continue through the novel. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment audiences such as myself have gotten from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she has in common with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her past books returns in the central part. Catt Greene is trying to renovate 36 run-down apartments in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between the Midwest and the West Coast, unable to aid her husband control his drinking. She feels helpless as her spouse moves between poorly supported positions as an recovery specialist in a society fueled by the hostility and dread that powers a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on social media, her occupation changed from "novelist" to "landlord" on the online encyclopedia. She still gives the impression to be overly concerned about this. At one point she says that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the nation that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would overlook entirely".

The Murder Narrative

Then we reach to the actual killing – and the eponymous day spent by the victim with the perpetrator and his associates. The author possesses great source material, and details moment by moment what happened when the victim Brandon came to visit Brittney after meeting her on an app where she sold sex pictures. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, loitering having his vehicle repaired and paying for snacks and drugs, before being murdered by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and daring boundary-pushing clash in this segment. But I'd have liked her to go further into her own obsessions here. The compelling persona is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to the protagonist's connection to her – yet another intelligent, harassed young woman spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in detention, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels oddly unfinished, to the extent that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par