Carrie Soto is Back

Photo from Finac.

Carly Ungerer

Ambitious women aren’t always well liked. Confidence in a man becomes arrogance in a woman. Being bold becomes being a “b****.” A fierce competitor becomes “the Battle Axe.” Carrie Soto is Back is a love letter to driven women who don’t let the world hold them back. Carrie Soto is unapologetic and unstoppable as she journeys to make the comeback of a century.

Carrie Soto, called the Battle Axe for her brutal playing style and signature slice, was a tennis player who established herself as one of the greats when she won her 20th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 1987, securing the world record for Slam titles. However, following her retirement, Soto watches as another player, Nicki Chan, starts to overtake her record. Soto, raised by her father, who was once a great tennis player and now a great coach, grew up on the idea of being the best in the world. Unable to let go of her record, Carrie comes out of her retirement at 39 to take back her record and cement her place in tennis history.

Soto, who had not played competitively in years following the injury that forced her retirement, must build back her stamina and skills coached by her father and playing against another older tennis player, Bowe Huntley, who she once had a relationship with and who now hopes to go out with a bang before his retirement. Bowe challenges Soto mentally, physically, and emotionally as they grow closer and Carrie questions what it means to be the greatest in the world. Soto must fight against her rigid self-expectations, her struggles with emotional intimacy, and her aging body as she tries to win another slam title, which would make her the oldest woman to do so, and defend her record.

Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Carrie Soto appeared first in an earlier novel, Malibu Rising, as “the other woman” in relation to one of the main characters. In Carrie Soto is Back, Reid adds depth and heart to the character, making a once disliked character sympathetic and lovable to readers. An early section of the book gives context to Carrie’s return by sharing her past, which gives insight into her relationship with tennis and with love. In diving into Carrie’s past, Reid gives readers an understanding of Carrie’s decision to get involved with a married man and humanizes her. Reid also recontextualizes Carrie’s previously mentioned cold behavior and fierceness, letting the readers see this through a more favorable lens.

Throughout the book, Carrie’s behavior and her return to tennis are criticized by the media, which is shown to the reader through transcripts of sport commentary. But despite comments labeling her “the b****,” past her prime and one saying she is making a mistake, Carrie is undeterred in her return, endeavoring to prove her critics wrong. The attitude towards Carrie is reflective of larger issues in society of double standards and expectations for women. The idea that women are expected to set aside their passions to become mothers or wives is reflected by a letter to the editor included in the novel where a woman expressed gratitude for Soto saying, “Some men’s childhoods are permitted to last forever, but women are so often reminded that there is work to be done,” similar to the idea expressed by and Emily Dickinson poem called She rose to His Requirement. Dickinson wrote:

She rose to His Requirement—dropt

The Playthings of Her Life

To take the honorable Work

Of Woman, and of Wife—

But Carrie Soto made the decision to pick back up her racket and continue to play, despite this decision making her unpopular. And as the reader grows to understand Carrie, the struggles and expectations she faces, and her motivations, you fall in love with Carrie Soto.

Making Carrie Soto loveable, despite her past mistakes, her cold behavior, and her hot-headedness, despite the fact that women like her are hated, Reid subverts expectations. Reid disregards tropes like the hated “other woman,” competitive women being softened or “humanized” by love, and hatred between competing women. Even as Carrie fiercely competes with Nicki, they share mutual respect and fondness for each other. In subverting social expectations, Taylor Jenkins Reid permits women to be unapologetically ambitious and reminds us unlikeable women are still people deserving of love. Carrie Soto is Back is a gripping feminist novel, where love for Carrie Soto and women like her, who challenge the status quo, shines through.