#early-adulthood

#early-adulthood

In contemporary publishing, female characters are often portrayed as hyper-independent: self-possessed, boundary-savvy, and well-contained. Emotional unavailability, especially in men, is still packaged as independence, mystery, even depth. Meanwhile, real-world romance is dominated by swipe culture, avoidance, and chronic ambiguity. "Keeping it casual" is a default stance, and ghosting is treated as a communication style. Meg Nolan's novel Acts of Desperation offers an unflinching portrait of attachment wounds, longing, and self-betrayal, without rescue fantasies and without a tidy resolution.