Reckless Girls: A Novel

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness and death. 

From the beginning of the novel, Hawkins establishes Meroe Island as a dangerous place, steeped in menacing lore. The island has a history of cannibalism, but reports also abound of its shark-infested waters, poisonous fish, biting insects, dense jungle interior, and brackish, unpotable water. All these external dangers, however, come to symbolize the real danger of Meroe Island, which is the way that its remote location impacts its visitors, emphasizing the novel’s thematic interest in The Psychological Impact of Isolation on Group Dynamics. There are several stories of visitors to Meroe who, impacted by the isolation, turn on one another. 

The author’s depiction of Meroe Island and its many dangers facilitates her exploration of Trust and Betrayal in Relationships. Lux fixates on the sharks, the dense jungle, and the island’s poisonous fish, but what she does not initially realize is that the real “dangers” of Meroe Island are its visitors, whose basest instincts and impulses come to light on the remote island. Nico sleeps with Amma behind her back, Eliza and Brittany have come to the island in order to “punish” Jake and Amma, and even Jake is willing to resort to violence to protect his interests.