Kristel Thornell

I do like it when authors try something new. Not for the sake of it, but to achieve something different, something that only works in the novel because the novelist has been adventurous.

I've been reading Kristel Thornell's novels since she first published her Vogel Prize-winning Night Street in 2010, and each one has been different.

Night Street was a fictionalisation of the life of the Impressionist painter Clarice Beckett, but though it was Thornell's debut novel, it was a masterclass in evoking contrasts in tone. Where the narrative is about Beckett's confinement to home duties because of her duty to her demanding parents the tone is claustrophobic; at night when she is free, the narrative expands and the tone is sensual.

On the Blue Train (2016) is a mystery, but it's a whydunit, not a whodunit. The story is bookended by the framework of Agatha Christie's unexplained brief disappearance, but within that the narration focusses on the thoughts and emotions of Teresa and her admirer Harry. Thornell's novels are character-driven in a social context, and I've always liked that.

The Sirens Sing is a step away from narratives with a real-life prompt, and its two-part framework is unusual because its patterns reverberate across generations but the novel begins with the later time frame. It is also a social novel because it explores how disadvantage shapes personality and behaviour. Thornell shows how a lack of social confidence impacts on people of modest means when they move into a different milieu.

Odysseus and the Sirens, eponymous vase of the Siren Painter c.475BC (Wikipedia)

The Sirens who fail to lure Odysseus away from his quest do so only because his crew restrains him. At his command, the men blocked their own ears, and tied him to the mast so that while he could hear the Sirens' song and feel the desire it evoked, he could not act on it. In different ways, Thornell's characters hear the siren song of desire and do not act on it. But the unconsummated loss haunts them all their lives.

The first part of the novel features adolescents Heather and David in the 1990s, attracted to each other by their mutual love of learning the Italian language. For both Heather and David, ambitions are constrained by the limitations of their backgrounds as the children of single parents. Each is hesitant in developing the relationship, not least because they are both from disadvantaged backgrounds and are wary of being judged and rejected. Sometimes the rent isn't paid and the pantry is bare. Getting dressed for an outing is filled with anxiety because their wardrobes are so limited.

After agonising over his very few clothing choices, David had gone with the old Levi's, the Doc Martens he'd bought with his first pay from the hotel and the green-and-black-checked shirt he hoped was more urban-trendy than loutish-slacker Westie. He fussed with the shirt, tucking it in, untucking, tucking, untucking. (p.21)

Their opportunities for meeting extend beyond school when Heather invites David to join her in an Italian conversation class with Ada. Fatally, Heather also invites Robbie to join the class as well although he is only a beginner in Italian.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2023/02/11/the-sirens-sing-2022-by-kristel-thornell/… (mais)

Night Street is a dreamy book, filled with passion for art. The life of Clarice Beckett is imagined, although she was a real artist living at the beginning of the twentieth century who painted some wonderfully modern pieces in Australia. She was virtually unknown during her life due to her gender and the different nature of her work, but when her pieces were rediscovered she became part of Australia's artistic history. Kristel Thornell has depicted her life as introverted, secluded and consumed by her painting. Indeed, the author evoked the artist in the book - the writing was dreamlike, tonal, illuminating, and lyrical. It is hard to believe that this is her first novel.

* I received this book for free from Goodreads First Reads.… (mais)