What do you do when you’ve written a bombshell memoir that sold 3 million copies, but you’re only 33? If you’re former child star Jennette McCurdy, you prove that you’re not a one-hit wonder. I’m Glad My Mom Died demonstrated that a well-therapised author can still write a good yarn. Half His Age is a strong fiction debut that will make you uncomfortable, relate (if you’re a young or formerly young woman), or both.
Waldo is a 17-year-old high school girl adrift in Alaska, acutely aware of her class status as “trailer trash”, and with an absent father. Her neglectful mother “aged out of stripping” so works at a supermarket when not romantically pursuing awful men. Waldo’s own part-time job at Victoria’s Secret pays the bills and funds her shopping addiction. When she’s angry, she masturbates furiously using household objects or eats sour sweets until she can’t feel her tongue.
