A daily dose of paranoia from Kathleen Barber
In “Follow Me” by Kathleen Barber, a stalker and social media influencer play an unsettling game of cat and mouse that tackles deeper themes of identity, image and motives.
Audrey Miller has it all: an exciting new opportunity to work her dream job as a social media manager at the world-class Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., looks that make anyone swoon and, most importantly, a million followers on Instagram. With popularity and opportunity seeming to follow her everywhere, Audrey is the epitome of success.
“(She) captivated people. Audrey turned every head in every room she ever entered, and people fell all over themselves to be in her presence. Audrey sparkled and that was all there was to it.”
With all eyes on her — almost quite literally — Audrey makes the ambitious decision to move away from her comfortable life in New York City. Though apprehensive, with the support of an old friend, Cat, and her Instagram followers, Audrey is confident she can make D.C. her new home.
Audrey settles into her new life, impressing her managers and co-workers with her dedication to her work, tackling task after task with unprecedented fervor, all the while flawlessly balancing her online presence and social life. To Audrey’s followers, they see a successful, confident young woman who doesn’t settle for anything less than the best.
But the life of an influencer is far from perfect and pristine. Behind Audrey’s bubbly facade hides an anxious and insecure individual who has built her sense of self-worth through others’ validation. Followers are not privy to Audrey’s scanty basement apartment and the dozens of boxes she has yet to unpack because she has neither the motivation nor the discipline to do so, nor are they aware of her upstairs neighbor who threatens and tantalizes her every day. Yet Audrey’s abysmal living situation is the least of her worries; unbeknownst to Audrey, her nonchalant openness on social media has paved the way for a follower who has been stalking her online presence for years to bridge the gap between himself and Audrey.
Thus ensues pandemonium and paranoia in Barber’s psychological thriller. With chapters alternating among Audrey, Cat and the stalker, “Follow Me” forces readers to question their perceptions of safety, authenticity and identity. Moreover, the intensity in which Barber delves into the psychology of each of the characters is captivating; each of the character’s motives and desires is described with such subjectivity that it is nearly impossible to resent one more than the other, despite the moral ambiguity of the three central individuals.
While Barber’s attention to suspense drives the plot forward, the dynamic between Audrey and Cat deserves recognition. Audrey and Cat represent polarized versions of the self-curator: Audrey focuses her self-curation within social settings, whereas Cat hides her insecurities around her carefully crafted professionalism. Despite the seemingly striking differences between the two, they both seem to be running from the very things that ground them in their character. And, most importantly, their actions evoke the question: How do we mold ourselves, so people see only what we wish them to see?
As Cat and Audrey continue with their everyday lives, Audrey’s stalker subtly inches his way into her life. Despite the dangerous and invasive methods in which the stalker attempts to profess his undying love for Audrey, his warped perception of reality is just as intriguing as it is unsettling. His admiration — as he so calls it — is shrouded by his fanatical petulance and obsessiveness to create a character that is at once disdainful and sympathetic. At the end of the day, is it so hard to sympathize with someone who craves mutual recognition and reciprocity like everyone else?
Barber’s second novel rivals those of veterans with its chilling suspense, dramatic irony and storyline that is as much character-driven as it is plotdriven. Barber reminds us that the internet is a place of connection, a place where people find meaning and hope and recognition, but she also reminds us how exposed and vulnerable we all are.