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Falling in love is one of the best experiences that a human being can have. Given that, why does it so often end badly? In the late 60s, Alice Conrad is working as a Bunny Girl, serving drinks at a private club while dressed in a skimpy bunny outfit complete with ears and fluffy tail. She meets her share of men doing this line of work, but none of them really sweep her off her feet until she runs across Lenny Maxted. Together with his partner, Jack Flowers, Lenny is an up-and-comer on the comedy scene. As Alice first describes it, their relationship was one of good will and good humor. Their bond was almost instantaneous. However, as time goes on, Lenny shows that he is a troubled young man who wrestles the demons of drinking and depression. Although Alice at first paints a rosy picture of their relationship, it is quite dysfunctional. Eventually, Lenny sinks into the abyss and commits suicide. From that point on, Alice secludes herself and devotes herself to living a simple life, tending animals and taking care of her home far removed from civilized society. It's been almost 7 years since Lenny's death when Alice receives an upsetting newspaper clipping about a car containing human remains being fished out of a lake. She suspects that the body may be that of a woman who Lenny had slept with during one of their bad patches. She's worked hard to put all of this behind her, but the past won't be quiet. Just a few days after receiving the clipping, Jack Flowers shows up at her door and seems intent on staying with her for rather a long visit. What transpires from that point on are mind games of horrifying proportions. The label of "psychological thriller" for this book doesn't begin to capture the impact of how the situation plays out for the reader and the characters in the book. Jack is a paranoid schizophrenic who alternates between loving and abominable behavior. Alice is not always an unwilling victim and goes along with things far more than she should, perhaps out of loneliness, perhaps out of a misplaced nostalgia for the past and a time that has a golden hue in her memory. Wilson does an exceptional job of revealing the many layers of each of the characters in the book. They are very damaged people who have a veneer of normality that is quite deceptive. She knows how to ratchet up the suspense as well, although at times the book had an almost hysterical tone that felt manipulative of the reader and perhaps went a bit overboard on the perilous situations. Each of Laura Wilson's four books is a unique work. Hello Bunny Alice succeeds at drawing the reader into a world that is frighteningly real. I doubt that anyone can read this book without becoming emotionally involved with the character of Alice and horrified by the events of the book. Can you?
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, May 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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