by Sophie Mackintosh
Doubleday, 2018. 269 pages, Fiction
On an island isolated from the rest of the world, a father, mother and 3 girls have created an existence bathed in ritual to free themselves from the contamination and toxins of the world beyond. When their father doesn’t return from a trip to the mainland, and 2 men and a boy wash up on their shores, the girls are faced with both dangers and desires that they’ve never encountered before. Will the men spread their toxicity to the girls, or will their extreme measures, tortuous therapies, and experimental cures allow them to maintain their untainted existence?
A fascinating and intricate take on toxic masculinity, sisterhood, and perceived “wellness”, coupled with an artfully laid sense of dread and uncertainty, this book paints parallels to our modern world and exaggerates its dangers in thought provoking ways. This book was long-listed for the Man Booker prize last year and has been compared to A Handmaid’s Tale and other feminist dystopian fiction, with good reason, as the dark, ominous tone penetrates and shocks in the same way. A page turner, but not for the faint of heart, I’d recommend this book to those who like their literature to hold a mirror up to our society and question why we behave a certain way or value the things we do.
RC
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