The Favourite by Rosemary Hennigan – Book review

If you like dark and mysterious reads with an academic backdrop – you’re going to love The Favourite by Irish author Rosemary Hennigan. Part revenge story, part morally musing tale on law, ethics and feminism, this blend of themes meant The Favourite was a very enticing read that left you thinking.

Opening sentence: He was standing with my sister the first time I saw him, in the Trinity Arts Block after class.

How far would you go for payback?

The Favourite is narrated by Jessica ‘Jessie’ Mooney. She is from Dublin, Ireland but goes to study at a prestigious university in Philadelphia, USA. On the surface it is to secure herself a sparkling law career but in reality, she has a far more sinister ulterior motive.

I should say that what follows is not a confession. It’s not an exercise in atonement or motivated by guilt.

The death of her sister, Audrey has affected her badly (as well it might), especially as she believes that a man is – however inadvertently – to blame. That man is Jay Crane a professor at the American university. Jessie wins herself a highly coveted place on his Law and Literature class and makes it her mission to become his favourite. It’s widely known that his favourite students enter his inner sanctum and get all the privileges.

It’s not the career boost she’s after though. She wants to get close to him to make him pay for the death of her sister.

If my plan was to work, I needed to blend in with the rest of the students, hidden in plain sight, with the face of a girl and the heart of a viper.

Jessie is very much dedicated to her plan, harbouring an obsession with carrying it out, whatever the cost. It does sometimes make some of her actions seem a little off – as in, they don’t make sense to you, but in the context of a woman possessed, they do.

The question of morals

‘It’s origins are deeply patriarchal. The legal system is a male institution – designed by, and for, men.’

The Favourite spends a lot of time pondering the morals and ethics of law, as well as the inground biases within the legal system. I found this so interesting to read as when you consider how unfair the whole legal system is, it gives far more justification for people – like Jessie – who decide the only course of action is to take the law into their own hands.

The pace is slow and burning with an intensity that makes this such a delicious read. It’s an atmospheric story of revenge that poses good questions about law and ethics and transports you to the evocative setting of an esteemed American university campus with ease.