The Watchdog
March 2007 Vol. 16 No. 3 C.D. Hylton High School Woodbridge, VA
Diary
By Chuck Palahniuk
Heather Gioia
Features Editor
The story of Misty Wilmont, mother and wife, is like none other, told through her diary entries, written through the eyes of an outside observer.
Misty, who was considered trailer trash as a child, ends up living in the dream-world that she had once drawn with colored pencils. Peter Wilmot is the man she meets while in art school and drops out to marry; she both disappoints, and is disappointed by, him.
After Peter’s psychotic rage and tragic accident that leaves him lying in a hospital bed like a vegetable in a coma, Misty is left to clean up the mess he left behind.
When it seems as if nothing could be worse than erasing her husband’s ranting, raising her daughter by herself, and dealing with her over controlling mother-in-law, her sanctuary is invaded by outsiders. Diary brings to light a family’s conspiracy, a plan that threatens to cost the lives of hundreds of people, unless Misty can save them this time.
The novel looks at aspects of a life some readers could never imagine and others deal with, such as family secrets and pre-planned futures.
Diary is a novel that keeps readers puzzled until the last page, and stays with them after it ends. The plot is dark, sardonic, full of satire, and at the same time extremely gripping. The reader, although at times confused, will not be able to leave the novel in the past until they solve the mystery and untangle the web of lies and secrets in the novel, even after is has been completed. To not read this novel would be a crime.
Heather Gioia's Clips 