In Jonathan Franzen’s new novel “Purity,” bodies twitch, ache, betray and lust. In the very first paragraph, Anabel, the mother of the main character Pip, laments, “Sometimes I think my life is nothing but one long process of bodily betrayal.”
Her sentiment could be echoed by almost every character in the book. Pip, whose real name is Purity, finds herself attracted to older men often with devastating consequences. Andreas Wolf, the charismatic leader of the Sunlight Project, a quasi-Wikileaks, finds himself drawn to the bodies of underage girls. Anabel and her ex-husband, Tom Aberrant, are drawn to each other’s bodies even after their relationship has long ended. Another character finds that her body leads men to rape and murder. And yet, in this sea of conflicted and corrupted bodies, the female body is held at a distance.