Reviewed by Rod McLary
Andrea Goldsmith, until now, was not an author with whom I was familiar but having read The Buried Life I believe that to be a serious omission on my part. The novel explores with intelligence and elegant writing the vicissitudes of personal and family relationships across the broad range of relationships.
The title of the book – The Buried Life – is an interesting one suggesting as it does that the aspects of ourselves and the lives we could have led can in some situations be ‘buried’ by the demands and obligations we may have towards other people in our lives. The title seems to reference a poem by Matthew Arnold – also entitled The Buried Life – which reads in part:
But often, in the din of strife,
There rises an unspeakable desire
After the knowledge of our buried life;
And it is this ‘unspeakable desire’ which lies at the heart of this beautifully rendered novel.
The protagonists are Adrian whose long-term relationship has just ended, Kezi who is estranged from her parents because she is gay, and Laura and Tony who have been married for almost forty years. A disparate group certainly but there are connections between them which are played out in the ensuing narrative. Adrian and Kezi are close friends despite their age difference; and he and Laura – both cheese connoisseurs – meet by chance while each is choosing a cheese for lunch. Gradually a friendship develops between them as they find more and more in common after each of their innocent meetings.
Contemporaneously, as their friendship grows, Laura discovers an ease and comfort – and even a freedom – in conversing with Adrian which she has never felt with Tony – and this marks in her a developing awareness of the true nature of her marriage to Tony. Her younger sister Hannah has frequently pointed out the coercive elements in Tony’s behaviour towards her [Laura] and Laura now recognises that Hannah’s objective perspective on Tony was insightful – and frighteningly correct!
A significant proportion of the narrative is consumed by Laura’s thoughts as she processes her changing feelings towards her husband. The author brilliantly captures the push:pull of Laura’s thinking as she recalls moments of fear or shame caused by Tony’s words and attitude towards her and how she immediately countermands those moments by telling herself that he enabled her intellect and abilities to grow and mature; and by telling herself that she had said or done the wrong thing and Tony was only attempting to ‘improve her’. Not uncommon in these circumstances but told here with compassion and insight as Laura works her way towards the only valid conclusion. While her relationship with Adrian grows, Laura decidedly avoids using the relationship as an escape route and instead puts it to one side as she comes to her own conclusions about her and Tony and the future of their relationship.
But the novel is not only about Laura. Alongside her story – and becoming more significant as the narrative progresses – are the health issues of Kezi and how she, Laura and Adrian respond to the situation. And this brings the narrative towards an incredibly moving conclusion.
There is so much more to this complex and intriguing novel which, while exploring the inner dynamics of marriage and friendship, consistently avoids cliché and easy resolution. As Matthew Arnold says, there is sometimes a desire to know ‘our buried life’ and it is this desire which – in different ways – leads Laura and Adrian towards a different life from what they had envisaged.
The Buried Life is a pleasure to read – full of insights told with compassion and empathy for the protagonists – and is well recommended.
Andrea Goldsmith’s acclaimed novels include Gracious Living, Modern Interiors, Facing the Music, Under the Knife, Reunion, The Prosperous Thief (shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award), Invented Lives and The Memory Trap, which was awarded the 2015 Melbourne Prize for Literature. Her essays have appeared in Meanjin, Australian Book Review, Best Australian Essays, The Monthly, and numerous anthologies. She lives in Melbourne.
The Buried Life
[2025]
by Andrea Goldsmith
Transit Lounge
ISBN 978 1 923023 25 3
$34.99; 318pp