Borderlines : A Memoir

Penny Wolfson

In this first book, Kraus, trained in documentary filmmaking, shows herself to be a perceptive and fluent storyteller, able to relate the panicky flavor of this slippery, disturbing relationship. Her allegiance to the fragile mother she has lost feels profoundly true, as does her deep relationship with the father who always bails her out. With this novel-like memoir, Kraus makes a lovely, promising debut.
— The Washington Post

Publishers Weekly

Less than a year after her mother's death from cancer, recent college grad Kraus packs up and moves from St. Louis to San Francisco, eager to begin an independent life. Working at a Palo Alto bookstore, she meets Jane, another employee who becomes her friend, temporary lover, constant companion and, ultimately, "worst enemy." In her first book, Kraus skillfully delineates the arc of her relationship with Jane, which initially brings love and happiness to the author, who's been grieving and looking for an emotional anchor in her mother's absence. Attractive, charismatic Jane, a few years older than Kraus, listens to her, calls her "Honey" and gives her an "endorphin rush" in the wake of "exclusive attention." Kraus soon learns that Jane cuts herself with razor blades, sucks her thumb and claims to have been sexually molested as a child, yet Kraus remains loyal. When a roommate tells Kraus she thinks Jane has "a strange power over you," Kraus can't see the problem. Even when Jane turns manipulative and hurtful, discards Kraus as a lover, sleeps with other people (women and men) and drives Kraus into debt and her own form of self-mutilation, the author seems to need Jane's love and approval. To her credit, Kraus, who finally frees herself from Jane and goes on to attend film school in New York, tells her gripping tale without indulging in melodrama or portraying herself as a pathetic victim. Although readers may become frustrated by the repeated descriptions of Jane's abusive behavior before Kraus seeks help, this work succeeds in showcasing Kraus's writing talent while exploring a disturbing topic. Agent, Elizabeth Kaplan. (On sale Mar. 1) Forecast: Targeted mailings, online promotions and national media coverage could draw in readers of Girl, Interrupted and other books about the psychology behind women's relationships. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Kraus's memoir of life at 23 is dark, heady, and impossible to put down. Unmoored after her graduation from college and the premature death of her mother, she leaves home for California, hoping to find her bearings. Instead, she ends up lost in San Francisco, trudging through life as a bookstore clerk with a heavy heart. It is there that she meets Jane, a charismatic firecracker of a girl who sparks up her life. Kraus seeks solace in their friendship, but the union slowly turns poisonous as Jane becomes increasingly demanding and possessive, hell-bent on destroying everything in her path. Spellbound by the parasitic but bewitching Jane, Kraus cannot extricate herself from her grip, even as Jane blackmails, abuses, and financially ruins her. With spare writing that reveals complex emotions, this memoir is an enthralling look at how the intimate bonds we forge can sometimes destroy us. Not for the fainthearted, but recommended.-Tania Barnes, "Library Journal" Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-This is the story of a dysfunctional relationship. Shortly after graduating from college, Kraus met Jane upon moving to San Francisco, roomed with her, and soon found the somewhat older woman separating her from friends, family, money, and, finally, sanity. The author had moved west from St. Louis after her mother died, and her fragile mental state from coping with this death played a large part in her susceptibility to Jane's power. The two met at the bookstore where they worked. While at first everyone was enamored with Jane, the other employees, as well as Kraus's friends, soon began warning her of the woman's strangely manipulative behavior. While Kraus barely dated, Jane took several lovers of both sexes and often played them off one another and Kraus. As she gradually became aware of the way she was being dragged down, the author was able to claw her way back to reality. Through it all, many common elements of young adult literature appear-cutting, sexual identity, the loss of parents, and sibling rivalry. The memoir jumps around quite a bit at first, which is distracting, but the pieces unfold and rejoin to give readers a more thorough understanding of how an obviously intelligent woman could allow herself to be so taken advantage of.-Jamie Watson, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Disturbing first-person account of one young woman's emotional captivity by another. Kraus was 23, grieving for her mother who had just died of cancer, and alone in a new city when she met Jane, a pretty, amusing young woman who seemed to offer empathy and camaraderie. Both worked at a bookstore in San Francisco, where Kraus, a recent college graduate from the Midwest, was planning to study screenwriting at Stanford. Within short order, the co-workers became fast friends and then roommates and then more. Gradually, Kraus's life was taken over by Jane, her plans for graduate work put aside. Jane, manipulative and seductive, alternating between sweetness and cruelty, seemed to need Kraus's love and support, and Kraus gave both generously. The inheritance her mother left her was wiped out and credit-card debt mounted as Kraus willingly supported them both. While the author's father, brother, and sister became alarmed by the unhealthy relationship developing between the two women, and her psychiatrist tried to open her eyes to the source of her need for Jane, the warning signs that Jane was bad news passed by Kraus undetected. Promiscuity, shoplifting, stealing cash at work, gratuitous lies, emotional blackmail, and physical violence were par for the course for Jane, yet through the strife, Kraus says, were times of great happiness, affection, sharing, and fun. It was only when Kraus heard an NPR documentary on borderline personality disorder that she recognized that she had become deeply entangled with a seriously disturbed individual and that she herself was slipping into Jane's world. Once able to see Jane clearly, Kraus made her escape, fleeing San Francisco. That her freedom was onlytemporary is a shock, for Jane was welcomed back when she reappeared in Kraus's life a couple of years later. When they parted for the second time, it was because, Kraus says, she had learned to value her own needs over Jane's. A vivid portrait of a complex relationship, as gripping, at times, as a good thriller. Agent: Elizabeth Kaplan