Suki Waterhouse's Wallflower Days are Over
Doomsday or Fri-Yay: Suki Waterhouse's "Memoir of a Sparklemuffin" and The Beginner's Reading List for Culturally Unacceptable Women
When Suki Waterhouse released her sophomore album, “Memoir of a Sparklemuffin,” on September 13th, I didn’t expect her to dethrone all of my anticipated releases of 2024 (sorry Swifties, that includes The Tortured Poet’s Department). But Suki’s fresh, romantic sound kept me coming back day after day for the last week to listen until I lost track of time and every bit of my delicate consciousness. Her album is reminiscent of classic Fleetwood Mac acoustic, twisted into occasional upbeat and misty indie pop rhythms. She suspended me in a dream-like state with her storytelling ability and transported me through a narrative of love, anger, and gratefulness for the life she’s lived thus far and the world she’s trying to build in her early thirties.
Suki Waterhouse is an unexpected, sparkling wallflower who has always seemed to blend into the background everywhere I look. Earlier this summer, she opened for Taylor Swift at the Era’s Tour in London. And there she was again in the tabloid magazines at the supermarket pictured with her fiancé, actor Robert Pattinson (known for his roles in The Batman and Twilight… but Lord knows I was never part of the “Twihard” obsession in my youth so he will be known as Batman to this publication). As an actress, Suki has appeared on our screens in Amazon Prime’s adaptation of the bestselling Taylor Jenkins Reid novel, Daisy Jones and the Six, where she played Karen Sirko, a keyboardist ahead of her time in 1970s Los Angeles, and someone I’d argue to be a familiar essence of Suki herself.
But I think it’s safe to say that Suki Waterhouse’s wallflower days are over. Not many people can say they gave birth to a healthy baby girl and released a successful album in six months. She keeps showing up everywhere I look and I’m ready for it (and so are my earbuds). In Memoir of a Sparklemuffin, Suki introduces us to a complex, growing star in the midst of finding her own sound.
As with all great lyricism, it’s only natural to analyze them down to the intended inflection, rip those lyrics to syllables and letters, and pin the words to a case board to find the origins, especially with such a famous fiancé at her side. But privacy is a Suki Waterhouse special and her lyrics are as much about her own life as they are about the next woman. So, let’s try to understand her art as she intended, as an extension of herself and a conduit for us to feel something.
She encapsulates emotions in her songs like lightning bugs in Mason jars. That weightlessness of falling in love and the warmth of a secure but aging relationship. The exhaustion of chronic anxiety and the gnawing shame of bad choices. The desperation to be liked and wanted. It’s all there waiting to be experienced in 53 minutes and 27 seconds.
But don’t ask me what a “sparklemuffin” is until you take the time to listen to her album with the volume maxed and your eyes closed because it’s a state of mind — an immaculate vibe — not an object or personification for us to widdle down and toss in the trash when we get bored. It’s a feeling, a transcendent part of our world. Something without matter but always there.
The Beginner’s Reading List for Culturally Unacceptable Women
(Jane Austen Would 100% Approve of This)
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
Dolly Alderton’s hilarious memoir on what it’s like to be a young woman navigating dating, friendships, college life, and a budding career. Her passages made me laugh, cry, and reflect on the trajectory of my own life. This book should be a staple on any young woman’s bookshelf. It’ll make you feel a little less crazy, a little less of a failure, and more inclined to work on the hard parts of life.
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood will forever be required reading. That includes all of her stuff, not just this one. But if you’ve already ventured into The Handmaid’s Tale, or don’t want to bother reading something mainstream, this is a great starting point to get into her material.
Alias Grace follows a young woman in 1843 who has been convicted of murdering her past employer, his mistress, and the housekeeper, only she doesn’t remember a thing. The community is split over her conviction. Some believe her to be innocent and others believe her guilty. But a pioneer in the mental health field looks to find the truth and analyze Grace so she can remember what happened. But what he finds might be darker and lurking in the shadows where he cannot see.
13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad
A poignant tale about a woman’s struggle with her appearance and unrealistic body image standards. This quick debut from Awad will resonate with any woman expected to mold into a society that is viciously trying to change her.
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
A collection of short stories that will stay with you well past the moment you finish it. Carmen Maria Machado dives into the harsh reality of the physicality of the woman's body. Through story after story, she addresses the lurking dangers and violence that come with it. Machado is known for seamlessly weaving through a broad spectrum of genres, including horror, science fiction, magical realism, and fantasy.
Eileen by Otessa Moshfegh
Although you could watch the screen adaptation of Moshfegh’s novel starring Anne Hathway, it’s still worth a read. Technically, the setting is around Christmas so you could count this as a holiday book. But don’t expect this to be a cozy read. A grotesque mess from front to back, Eileen follows a disturbed 24-year-old woman holding her life together as she struggles with an alcoholic father and her boiling self-hatred. Before Christmas, she meets a glamorous, infectiously charming woman at work by the name of Eileen. Her obsession escalates and there’s no saying what she will do to preserve her friendship with this mysterious Eileen.
WHAT’S NEXT: What’s happening in the SLIGHTLY SOUR Universe?
The Great British Baking Show is back on Netflix today, September 27th! I can thank this show for my husband’s impeccable, and unexpected, baking ability. Try it, ladies! It’s another step toward equality.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 5 has started on a dramatic note (lol, shocker) so let’s recap it as simply as I can…
Lisa is mad at Whitney’s podcast comments in which Whitney coined Lisa as “the villain”. But now Lisa is mad at Angie K. for taking Whitney’s side on the podcast comments.
I guess Meredith still hates Whitney because she sells bath bombs? But I’m starting to get concerned with Meredith’s bath obsession. No one should be bathing this much.
Heather admits to being on Ozempic. And is still mad at Whitney for… honestly at this point I’ve lost track.
Mary is back and I’m here for all the blunt, unfiltered Mary-isms that make my husband speechless.
The new girl, Bronwyn, thinks downstairs undergarments are appropriate dining attire. I’m not usually one to shame anyone’s fashion choices, but I can’t imagine what the waitress was thinking.
Lisa threw a Galentine’s Party— a “Besos” party. And of course, it all imploded when the group of women got into an altercation. Whitney stormed out. Angie K. stormed out. And the band in the background did their best to hold in their laughter while on camera.
I am officially starting my book club, Fiction Pairs Well with Feminist Rage, next week on October 1st. The first-ever book club post will replace my usual Doomsday or Fri-Yay post. Look for the introduction to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in your inboxes on October 1st. Happy reading!
Until next time,
Kat