‘Wonderland’: Novel not for every reader

Stacey D'Erasmo's new novel, 'Wonderland,” is the story of Anna Brundage, an indie rock star looking to make a comeback.

After Anna's first album made her a favorite among brooding college students, life got in the way and pulled her out of the spotlight for seven years. Now at 44 - and without a record deal - she sells a piece of her famous father's artwork to finance a new album and European tour. This is her second - and, she fears, last - chance.

'I was wounded, exhausted, angry, broke, and past 30. In other words, I was ready.”

'Wonderland” is both the story of Anna's return and the story of the years lived before the tour: her bohemian childhood, her complicated relationship with her family, and her falling in and out with various lovers.

D'Erasmo beautifully captures the complications of life and love on the road, and how Anna's perception of one-night stands, drugs, and music has shifted with age: 'How strange it is to have disappeared and to come back, years later, only to find that so many of the others have gone. They won't return.”

That's not to say the novel is without its difficulties. The work is structured like a long, unwieldy Tom Waits album: some chapters push a storyline; some are close examinations of a particular scene; while others are so brief they seem to exist only for the sake of beauty.

And while the stories of the present tour and Anna's childhood are both gripping, the two narratives struggle to connect in a meaningful way, making the novel feel disjointed.

Like an indie album, 'Wonderland” is not for everyone. But those who connect with it will do so fiercely, like D'Erasmo is singing only to them.