A Criminal's Search for Identity in Lisa Lutz's "The Passenger"

It's been difficult to find a way to write this book review without giving away too much about its plot, but simply put, Lisa Lutz's The Passenger is the story of a woman on the run.
     I've never really read any crime novels, with the exception of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, and even that I would argue leans more towards the mystery genre. Although crime stories aren't typically my go-to, I still found myself totally engrossed in this book from cover to cover, and I managed to finish the whole first half of the book in just one sitting (which is something I truthfully haven't been able to do since high school).
     Since the main character of this story is an anti-hero of sorts, there were moments where I felt like her character traits were frustrating or her experiences unrelatable, as her adventures were a bit daring and admittedly unlawful in many instances. In spite of the protagonist's unorthodox lifestyle, I was still able to empathize with her as an individual. Quite often while reading, I found myself experiencing emotions as she did, and towards the end I really could feel the personal burden of the plight found in her tragic backstory.
     At the end of the day though, this is a story about identity, and the struggle to separate oneself from the assumptions that the world may have about them. Through the internal turmoil of the main character, one realizes that the opinions of others can profoundly shape how we view ourselves, and in turn, how we choose to see the world and go about living our lives. The search for identity and all the wrestling that coincides with it is something familiar to everyone, as it is simply part of the universal human experience. Aside from the all the guilty pleasures of thrills and suspense that come with the story of a criminal on the run, it is this underlying message concerning identity in The Passenger that ultimately makes it most worthwhile to read.