This story isn’t really about Natalie though the unknown narrator does focus a lot on her and how she views the world. The narrator, an teenaged female, perseverates back and forth on her relationships with her boyfriend, Natalie, and Natalie’s boyfriend, Billy.

Natalie is a what you see is what you get kind of girl. She seems to believe that people are mostly skin deep. The protagonist thought, “I’m not even thinking that she has Botoxed her emotions so she won’t ever need to do her face. The unknown protagonist tells us of her relationship with Natalie isn’t really as friends, more like acquaintances.
She thinks about their prospective boyfriends as well and thinks that Billy is more like herself. That maybe her and Natalie should switch boyfriends.
This is a difficult short story to review. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters at all and there was very little plot. It was really about a teenager trying to figure out life within her small part of the world.
This is the first piece I have ever read by Anne Enright but I do have The Gathering on my TBR. Maybe I will like her novel better than this short story. If you would like to read this story, you can read it on-line at New Yorker. I would love to get your take on this story, if you do read it.
If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays or just find out about some great short stories, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story reviews. Come join in the fun! 
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