Reviewed by Ian Lipke
I’m sure that a reviewer somewhere has applied the phrase “a Greek tragedy” to this beautifully written book. It is not so much the story which sweeps us away as it is the writing itself. The feeling of great competence as the writer manipulates her words and images to best tell her tale. I was struck by the presence of expertise when I had read only a few pages, when I read the image of a giggling child and Emma’s feeling of “a small, hard rock of dread in her stomach, like the pit of an apricot. The dread wasn’t new; Julian’s smile had just reminded her of its constant presence” (9). No words are wasted – the image is as tight as the idea of sweat on the preceding page (“the heat was already drying the salty water into chalky lines on his skin”).Finally, “Emma’s own pale skin did not take to the sun so willingly; it was provoked and antagonised, and in response, it spread brown freckles across her chest, face and arms as if in defence, the numbers increasing daily” (8).
The story is competently told. At a significant time in their lives a young couple arrive on holiday in Greece, where they make the acquaintance of a native-born girl called Lena. Emma is struggling to find a meaningful next step in her marriage following a miscarriage. Julian is having difficulty with a rocky part of his academic course. Where once they shared a common vision for the future their goals are now being pulled in different directions. Lena offers an opportunity to explore their journey in exciting, but risky, ways.
As the heat in the city grows more intense, they become more and more entangled in Lena’s life. The tensions between privilege and power, desire and intimacy grow vast, and they find themselves facing consequences much more serious than they might have predicted.
Emma was introduced to the story as a married woman but still largely naive. She has married a man who is not much more worldly than she is herself. She knows nothing of voyeuristic practices such as are about to open before her. Her initial meeting with Lena involves witnessing sex in a public place, followed by an open discussion on what she had just seen. We love Emma when we first meet her. It is her innocence and freshness that attract her to us.
Emma’s partner is revealed as insufficiently worthy of her. He is caught out in a facile lie, made worse by lying to his wife. Such a practice weakens the sense of innocence the couple enjoyed when we first met them. While it might suit the novelist to show it is always the male part of the couple who falters, it would be refreshing to read that the male is strong enough to stay the course. In the current climate this is unlikely to happen.
Ruins
(2025)
by Amy Taylor
Allen & Unwin
ISBN:978-1-76106-851-5
$32.99;352pp