English Language and Literature ETDs
Publication Date
Spring 4-14-2025
Abstract
Service follows a young woman, Ruth, who flees home to Montana after the public takedown of the Michelin-starred Chef under whom she worked for a year in New York City. Anonymous women report Chef’s abuse of power — from sexual assault to manipulation to verbal abuse — leading to the restaurant’s abrupt closure. Through interruptions and flashbacks — the novel’s form embodying the experience of trauma — Ruth reveals the complicated and abusive relationship she had with Chef. We are immersed, as she is, in untangling the truth of what really happened in New York. Having run from New York, but never really having left it behind, Ruth must face the formative relationships that came before Chef. As she attempts to find her footing in Montana, she is confronted by the reality that the place and people she once knew — including herself — are irrevocably changed.
Degree Name
MFA Creative Writing
Level of Degree
Masters
Department Name
English
First Committee Member (Chair)
Daniel Mueller
Second Committee Member
Andrew Bourelle
Third Committee Member
Ann Murphy
Fourth Committee Member
Sarah Townsend
Fifth Committee Member
Laura Anh Williams
Language
English
Keywords
novel, literary, fiction, coming of age, restaurant, trauma, Montana, American West
Document Type
Dissertation
Recommended Citation
Peterman, Julianne G.. "Service." (2025). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/engl_etds/422
