Problems
Jade Sharma
Tramp Press
Maya, the girl with many problems, is stuck in an unfulfilling marriage with an insatiable drug addiction. Problems could be written as an account of her tragic rock bottom smash, but instead reads like an extended magazine column describing what we actually think when meeting boring neighbours, or failing at our health resolutions.
We are thrust into Maya’s multi-tasking life in the first few pages by meeting her husband, her lover (and former professor), and her casual affinity for hard drugs, all at once. Maya unapologetically recognizes every worry in life’s milestones, but, visiting her bland husband’s family on a forced hospital visit, Maya accepts her need to be wanted.
The most refreshing part of her journey through separation, withdrawal and occasional prostitution is the checked reality of her narration. Rather than trying to persuade the audience to endorse her actions, she rationally observes her variety of Johns and their participation in the exchange.
As her former marital nest becomes a lean-to for the live-in residents of Maya’s choosing, spanning from aged junkies to bright young hopefuls, the novel gives us one-liners that an afternoon sitcom couldn’t deliver better. Reading Problems isn’t a sufficient way to cope with one’s own, but it does nuance the representation of drug addiction, and solidify the importance of one’s inner, brutally honest comedic monologue.
Words – Patricia Patnode
