The Mask of Innocence shows the anatomy of narcissism by tracing the story of Margy, a woman whose art of charm, observation and manipulation make her her family, two marriages and her social existence. Coming out of well-planned performances she uses during childhood, techniques of manipulation of emotions that adults use, Margy shows the process of the creation of influence and the human cost of life under a mask.
The book demonstrates the trends of narcissism behavior: conditional love, selective attention, weaponized vulnerability and social deception. Every chapter is a discussion of her tactics, of how she gains respect, questions fidelity, and puts fronts before actual relationships yet how her approaches impact her nearest people: children, husbands, and friends.
The story explores the process of the interaction of ego, power and relationships with great philosophical thought and lyrical prose coupled with thoughtful psychological insight. The genius and catchiness of Margy is interwoven with the destruction whenever she does, creating a mixed picture of the life of a showgirl, who lives to perform, to control, to preserve her own self.
In the end, the mask breaks. The power disappears, the microscope is put into place and even the shrewdest manipulator has to confront the consequences of a life of domination and it all cracks beneath the surface of the gloss.
