More Than You’ll Ever Know
By Katie Gutierrez
Penguin, UK
ISBN: 978-0241529980
435pp.

Secrets aren’t just burdens that we carry; they also act as shields in the face of adversity. In an inherently patriarchal society especially, women often conceal some aspects of their lives to protect themselves from harm, preserve their self-identity and liberate themselves from the stranglehold of social expectations.

Using these notions as the springboard for a fictional narrative, Katie Gutierrez’s debut novel, More Than You’ll Ever Know, offers a poignant study of the secrets women keep to survive, and the perils that could emerge from their discovery.

Featuring an unusual storyline that explores how a woman’s decision to lead a double life results in betrayal, death and tragedy, this is not an edifying tale that preaches the merits of monogamy, fidelity and moral uprightness. Instead, Gutierrez presents a moving meditation on the difficult choices women make as they balance personal ambition with the strenuous demands of motherhood.

The plot derives its creative force from American society’s growing preoccupation with true-crime content — a genre criticised for unduly commercialising actual incidents of criminality for entertainment value.

A debut novel with a memorable storyline offers a poignant study of the secrets women keep to survive and the perils that could emerge from their discovery

Indoctrination would have us believe that violence against white women constitutes the lion’s share of homicidal acts in the United States, but statistics have defied these myopic assumptions. More Than You’ll Ever Know further delineates this fact by focusing on the plight of a protagonist who is a woman of colour.

However, Lore Rivera, isn’t — as frequently featured in true-crime content — the stereotypical victim murdered in cold blood. On the contrary, she is a catalyst, if not a perpetrator, for a crime.

In the recession-riddled 1980s, bank employee Lore lives in Laredo, Texas, with her husband Fabian and their twin sons. She is the primary breadwinner, while her husband struggles to keep his business afloat. Trapped in the banality of married life and the unexpected pressures of motherhood, Lore seeks a life-changing adventure that can restore her belief in herself.

Opportunity knocks when she attends a wedding in New Mexico and a seemingly innocent dance with a stranger named Andres Russo becomes the foundation of a secret marriage. But, her covert life as a bigamist who is devoted to her two families is shattered when Fabian murders Andres.

True-crime blogger Cassie Bowman discovers Lore’s story through an article written in 2017 and, intrigued by Lore’s unconventional choices, wants to write a book that faithfully documents her story. After careful consideration, Lore agrees to speak to Cassie on the condition that she won’t discuss the events that unfolded on the day Andres died.

As Lore peels back the layers of mystery surrounding her violent and traumatic past, Cassie draws her own conclusions about the murder, which are coloured by her own experience of a familial tragedy.

At its core, More Than You’ll Ever Know examines the extent to which power dynamics can influence the manner in which the truth is chronicled. Throughout the novel, Lore and Cassie are locked in a quiet, yet potent, struggle to seize control of the narrative surrounding Andres’s death.

Lore would like the book about her life to operate within specific parameters and preserve the secrets she has guarded her entire life. Meanwhile, Cassie is driven by an earnest quest for the truth and occasionally ends up assuming the role of a suspicious detective rather than a chronicler of facts.

Opportunity knocks when she attends a wedding in New Mexico and a seemingly innocent dance with a stranger named Andres Russo becomes the foundation of a secret marriage. But, her covert life as a bigamist who is devoted to her two families is shattered when Fabian murders Andres.

Oddly enough, these conflicting priorities seldom result in clashes between the two women. In fact, an unlikely friendship blossoms, fuelled by a mix of empathy and goodwill. During the course of their conversations, Lore and Cassie act as mirrors for each other and become custodians of the secrets they cannot disclose to anyone else.

Be that as it may, an unspoken tussle for control continues to cast a shadow on their bond, but both women eventually find the space and creative freedom to safeguard their own personal interests, albeit with mixed results.

More Than You’ll Ever Know turns an intimate gaze on the complex negotiations women must make as they embrace the challenges of motherhood. Gutierrez doesn’t pass any judgements about Lore’s inadequacies as a mother and even highlights her boundless ability to love Andres’s children like her own. But she also recognises the fact that motherhood is a fundamental responsibility that can affect children’s wellbeing and make or break their future — Cassie, for instance, is a product of her mother’s poor choices that have long-term consequences on her relationship with her family.

Love remains at the story’s core, even though the romantic relationships that the characters strike up are intrinsically flawed. Gutierrez highlights the significance of enduring love that is based on sacrifices and helps us deal with emotional catastrophes.

In addition, love is depicted as an unbridled force that cannot be governed by social conventions. The only lesson that can be learned from Cassie and Lore’s experiences is that love, in all its manifestations, cannot be pursued recklessly or demonstrated without caution.

In telling their story, the author does not hold the two protagonists captive to the detached voice of a third-person narrator. Cassie’s ambitions and the root of her trauma are presented through a first-person perspective. Lore’s flashbacks from the 1980s are rendered in the third-person so as to give readers the opportunity to understand the complexities of her chaotic life. But her observations about the present-day concerns related to Cassie, and her curiosity about the past, follow a confessional mode and are, therefore, presented in the first-person.

At times, this technique results in repetitions that could have been avoided through stronger editorial input. Nevertheless, these lapses can be overlooked as the novel has a memorable storyline and characters that seem to dance off the page and assume a life of their own.

These characters are etched with care, but readers might struggle to relate to the choices they make, even if they are prodded by the spirit of collective well-being rather than personal fulfilment. Readers are therefore urged to approach the text with empathy for those who have to fight tough battles to survive challenging circumstances.

Sticklers for precision and clarity may, meanwhile, raise concerns about the Spanish words and phrases Lore relies on as crutches during her monologues and in her conversations with Cassie. Like her questionable choices, Lore’s bilingualism is a dominant feature of the novel and, while it certainly shores up her unique identity and authenticity, the frequency of use is a bit excessive.

In some instances, the unfamiliar words can be understood in context; in other cases, the phrases stand out as anomalies and are in desperate need of a clear explanation. Much like Cassie, who occasionally has to Google phrases that are foreign to her, readers are advised to run their own online searches rather than seek answers in the text.

Language barriers aside, More Than You’ll Ever Know is a powerful indictment of marriage, womanhood and love, and a glowing reminder of the pitfalls of being human in a world where our choices are under constant scrutiny.

The reviewer is the author of Typically Tanya and co-editor of The Stained-Glass Window: Stories of the Pandemic from Pakistan.
He tweets @TahaKehar

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, January 1st, 2023