Set in 1980s New York, Margaret Gardiner’s novel DAMAGED BEAUTY: Joey Superstar follows twenty-seven-year-old model Joey Brinkley through her journey of self-discovery after a divorce and a stint in a spiritual rehab center. When she emerges from the center with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder (at the time called manic depressive disorder), Joey swears off cocaine and sex in order to regain her career traction. However, when her childhood trauma bubbles up, she quickly jumps back into old habits. She yearns to reconnect with her friend and fellow model, Fran, whom she’s desperately in love with, but her self-destructive tendencies continue to sabotage her dreams—even as a chance at reconciliation with a long-lost family member arises.

Joey is a vivacious heroine. Brazen and sly, she is more intelligent than she lets on to those she attempts to seduce for her career (and to prove to herself that she’s in control). Her pointed remarks about her promiscuous behavior and addictions reveal a sharp sense of self-awareness that’s captivating and poignant. As a counter to the abuse she suffered as a young teen, she “wanted to prove that having a stranger touch her body meant nothing. It did no damage. Especially if she was in control.” The push and pull of her self-sabotage and desire for redemption makes for a heart-wrenching rollercoaster of a novel.

The story’s structure is at times as chaotic as Joey’s behavior, with jumps into other characters’ backstories and head-hops into others’ perspectives that pull the focus away from Joey’s coming-of-age odyssey. Dips into Fran’s past and reflections on scenes with Joey offer an engaging glimpse into the consequences of Joey’s actions that she does not see, even as they do not advance the book’s plot.

Both Joey’s psychological struggles and interpersonal challenges come alive through Gardiner’s evocative prose. Vivid word choice brings precision to emotion, though occasional dives into esoteric language obscure meaning, as when “the orchestra of locks performed a brief sonata behind her, and they were through the twilight hall into the magic of a blood sky, peppered with planes and high-rises and the black cold of the East River.” Poignant emotion pierces with authenticity when more straightforward language offers a gut-punch. When Joey convinces herself to charge ahead on confronting her traumatic past with determination, for instance, she does “not consider that it was the coke that spurred her newfound confidence”—a simple yet sad and affecting declaration. The rare typo or misspelling, like “slithers of glass” instead of “slivers,” momentarily distract.

With a flawed and complex main character, DAMAGED BEAUTY: Joey Superstar is a poignant portrayal of self-sabotage as a symptom of trauma.

~Aimee Jodoin for IndieReader