An audio book. Lilly, a young woman who was brought up in an isolated Australian religious community, is in London talking to her unborn child.
The author said in an interview that this book "had gone to sixty drafts over several intensive years" so it's no surprise that the language is richly adjectival - "a light-drenched church, a plain wooden chair, stern-backed, with an unweilding rush-mat seat. Almost 21. Wedged between the rigid shoulder of my mother, Rebecca, and the firm lock of Tiriol, my father, and reading the nervousness of Tiroil's hand on my own, the sweat sheafing his fingers, and the flea-leap of a pulse I can't bear to touch". When she drinks spirits for the first time, she "languishes the potency in her mouth". In London she feels "the growly cold pesters me and judders my lips", and "the readiness spilling from me". In the early chapters after each section, each taxi journey, I wondered "what does this add? Is it needed?". Later I was happier with the pacing.
Lilly's mother had come to Australia intending to be an au-pair. Tiriol was a wannabee journalist into light drugs. They'd fallen in love. She'd suggested the remote community as a new start, away from temptation.
After saying at 13 that she had set fire to the school, she's under house arrest (a remote farm with her parents) until she's 21. She keeps a journal and wants to be a writer. Her only visitor is Ede, the librarian - a bit of a rebel. We're told rather late she has a husband. After her 21st birthday the community still don't want her to be freed. She's sent to her UK grandfather for 6 months, accompanied on the trip by a family friend, business man Richard Daunt, who she's fancied since she was 14. Her grandfather, Cedric, isn't good with people. He was the head gardener of a now abandoned 50-bedroomed stately house, Evenden. He still lives in the estate's cottage. Her awareness of male behaviour is surprising given her sheltered upbringing, her lack of visitors and TV. Aunt Anna, a company lawyer, befriends her. Slimey Richard is after her. She discovers that Dan, a young Australian male, is squatting in the stately house. At very short notice she leaves for London with him. She doesn't fancy him, but she's the only friend she has - he's taking a break from his family too. She sexlessly shares kind Dan's bed. She has frequent, albeit non-penetrative sex with Richard. She feels rejected by his high-society life. Neither London nor love are what she had dreamed of.
She falls for Dan's patient friendship after all. After a few months he says he wants to visit home again, to straighten things out. She insists on coming too. He drives them from the airport. She wonders why he's driving towards her home. He drops her off there and drives away. It emerges that he's the local 's son. At school, 3 years her junior at school, a loner too, he'd admired her in the library. After her expulsion he'd watched her, wanted to help her, befriended Ede. That's twist one. I hadn't anticipated it. It explains his otherwise unlikely appearance at Evenden.
Later there's twist two - he'd been the arsonist. I'd briefly wondered about that before twist one. After the first revelation it was obvious. He wants to marry her. She runs away to London. Months later he find her again. A trivial accident concusses him. Next morning he's dead. She continues to love him awaiting the birth of his child.
Other reviews
- theaustralianlegend
- Goodreads ("hard to finish")
No comments:
Post a Comment