The Wildelings by Lisa Harding was on a ‘dark academia’ reading list I came across. I don’t know if it fits into that category. Still, it takes place at a fictional Dublin university (named after Oscar Wilde) and deals with some dark elements of human nature, so sure.
The story revolves around Jessica and Linda, two friends who met as girls in their small town, and who have come to Wilde together. Jessica is a pretty, talented, and ambitious young woman with aspirations in theater. Linda, on the other hand, came from a difficult home life and was essentially adopted by Jessica and her stepmom. Linda is shy, unsure of herself, and afraid of attention. From the beginning, Jessica has had a dominant position in the relationship, never seeing Linda as any threat to her popularity or social standing.
At Wilde, they meet Mark, a philosophy student who is in a graduate program at the university.
Mark is enigmatic and strangely attractive. People gravitate to him, and he holds enormous control over his friends, a sort of cult-leader-in-the-making. Mark casts Jessica in his play, and at the same time, begins a romantic relationship with Linda. As Jessica falls deeper under Mark’s spell, confused by her feelings toward him, she is challenged by Linda’s happiness as the girlfriend of the most popular man on campus (despite being in a relationship with a hot French dude).
Jessica is equal parts an immature, selfish, vain, and attention-hungry young woman, and also perplexed and terrified at the loss of control she experiences as the plot unfolds. The book is written from her point of view, and I found myself oscillating between sympathy and a desire to slap some sense into her.
Mark’s influence over the people in Jessica’s life begins to look threatening when she notices people acting strangely toward her and each other. There’s a palpable sense of danger in the narrative as Jessica finds herself on rocky footing socially while her best friend seems to be ascending. She suspects that Mark is intentionally creating this dynamic, but for what purpose we never find out.
The only part of this book that left me frustrated was the lack of clarity around Mark’s motivations. Maybe this is intentional on Harding’s part, but I finished the book – which had a dramatic and tragic ending – unsatisfied and wondering why all of this had to happen in the first place. Maybe Mark is just an asshole, and there are no real motivations, but that flies in the face of everything we learn about him along the way. He’s controlling, manipulative, and highly intelligent with strong ideas that he forces on others in innumerable ways.
Regardless, I enjoyed reading this book. It’s filled with tension, and Harding captures the uncertainty and self-absorption of young adulthood perfectly. This is a solid read.