The darkish hull of a shipwreck, beached and rotting on the sand, supplies the highly effective symbolism in award-winning poet and creator Susannah Dickey’s third novel Into the Wreck. 5 members of a household mourn the demise of a mild however distant father: a person formed into silence by the Troubles, and whose absence leaves every of them making an attempt to comprehend a household fact that was by no means absolutely articulated.
The story is about in a coastal city in modern-day County Donegal, delivered to us in 5 separate narratives. Gemma, the center youngster of three, is learning for A-levels alongside an awkwardly timed new obsession with boys; she harbours a self-imposed duty to keep up the delicate equilibrium of the household residence. Anna, the eldest, fled to London at 16 to flee fixed confrontations along with her mom and is now compelled to return for her father’s funeral, whereas Matthew, the youngest, silently and heartbreakingly carries the load of the world’s and the household’s issues on his 15-year-old shoulders.
Along with the three siblings, we additionally hear from matriarch Yvonne, nonetheless sticking to the emotional script she has written for herself over time and unable to seek out the phrases to explain her present place of widowed ex-wife. Lastly, there’s Aunt Amy, a poet. By her personal admission, this larger-than-life and seemingly comedic character is introduced into the household circle every time mediation and light-weight reduction is required. She has danced on the periphery for years (“they thought bisexuality was straightness that hadn’t been completed accurately, like a skirting board”), however that place has supplied her a novel viewpoint. Like many outwardly playful folks, she is in possession of darkish truths which might see an already fractured household grow to be irreparably damaged.
double citation markInto the Wreck doesn’t present the reader with any neat resolutions – but it surely does provide a tentative conduit for hope
Dickey’s background as a poet is greater than evident on this exploration of grief. The language is sharp and spare, but deeply affecting; the 5 voices every distinctive and vital, every one serving to the reader higher perceive the delicate structure of a household at odds with itself. There aren’t any wasted phrases on this novel. The humour is observational and pithy. Even the ponderings of Aunt Amy, who questions why human beings afford such significance to phrases above some other type of communication (“think about if dictators and statesmen needed to dance their agendas, like bees”), don’t distract the reader from being anchored to the story.
One of many causes the reader stays immersed is that many strands weave between the 5 narratives. They share not solely a bereavement, however a collective dread of the approaching funeral and Yvonne’s insistence on a post-interment household meal, involving a roast rooster you simply know goes to come back to a sticky finish. Most importantly, sooner or later every character finds his or herself on the seaside, circling the symbolic shipwreck. Held again by worry and but tantalisingly lured inside by their very own curiosity, they every should problem their very own perceived limitations in an effort to navigate each the shipwreck and the grief it represents.
Into the Wreck doesn’t present the reader with any neat resolutions. Nonetheless, it does provide a tentative conduit for hope, and in a narrative that questions the efficacy of language, Dickey’s highly effective phrases encourage us to discover our personal buried tragedies and unstated truths. After studying it, we might discover ourselves higher ready to tiptoe, very tentatively, into our personal darkish shipwrecks.
Into the Wreck is printed by Bloomsbury Circus (£16.99). To assist the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Supply prices might apply.
