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The new book is populated with characters pursuing clean slates, attempting to leave behind addictions or harmful partnerships, only to find hope curdling into aggression. Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into willfully cynical through recurring use. Phrases such as "He aimed to start over" and "They opted for a clean break" appear throughout the narrative. And yet, the author herself is embarking on her personal new beginning, since this seems a novel form of writing – fact-based, authentically narrative. Yet it turns out to be packed with the familiar conflicts and approaches as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book

The writer began as an visual artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, made up of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting intimate women's literature from abjection into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels lacked the impact and rawness that the letter form infused into the tone of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her identity as a renegade artist who had turned into a major property owner, so there was considerable focus on housing investments. It follows that she presently aims to experiment with different types of content, directing her gaze to the experiences of others, at a moment when she states that Trumpian politics renders personal narrative redundant.

Three Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering three generations – each trapped by their backgrounds. There is the tale of Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, transitioning from the New York borough to a pastoral setting. Additionally the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the ascent of a political figure, and her addict husband a man named Paul. The third thread involves the story of the murder of one troubled youth by another in a community mostly forsaken by forward-thinking policies only a brief drive from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.

For this reader fond of polished prose of the type Kraus herself tends to eschew, I was seduced by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.

Being a reader who appreciates crafted language of the kind that Kraus often disregards, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. There is a novel degree of detail that accommodates minutiae, like the pail that the youthful Catt pries out of frozen water at the beginning of the narrative, helped by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he answers, "the nuanced interpretations of terms circulating in their speech like piece candy". The author narrates Emma's story with interest and closeness. "Emma experienced a dreamlike sensation – not entirely her own."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was destined to be disappointed when I expected this new voice could last out the book. Kraus says here that she dislikes the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to disruption, to the unpolished style she echoes from her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her previous novels reasserts itself in the second segment. Catt is working on refurbishing three dozen dilapidated units in the city's most challenging districts while traveling between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid her husband curb his addiction. She is overwhelmed as Paul transitions between poorly supported positions as an addiction therapist in a environment propelled by the anger and fear that powers a political win. Multiple pages are devoted about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her occupation changed from "author" to "real estate holder" on a reference site. The author still appears to care a little too much about this. On one occasion she states that she's investigating the murder so that before exiting the region, "she might be able to learn something about an America that her online critics would fail to comprehend, would not even perceive".

The Killing Story

So then we come to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day passed by the deceased with the killer and his companions. Kraus has compelling foundational content, and knows hour by hour what transpired when Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, wandering about getting his car mended and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by Brittney's partner a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was intrigued by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partly through Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in prison, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. This entire part feels strangely incomplete, to the extent that her narrative ends almost mid-par