The Rasmussen Papers

by Connie Gault

A delightfully cunning, sharply insightful novel about ambition and subterfuge from the author of the Giller-longlisted novel A Beauty.

This novel's unnamed narrator is so obsessed with the desire to write the biography of her literary hero, the late poet Marianne Rasmussen, that she assumes a false name and talks her way into the house of Rasmussen's former lover, Aubrey Ash. She gets more than a foot in the door—she moves in as a lodger, gaining precious daily contact with frail, crusty, almost-centenarian Aubrey and his handsome, younger (but hardly young) brother Harry.

The would-be biographer tries to ingratiate herself with both the Ash Brothers. She flatters Aubrey and she flirts with Harry, but the harder she tries to get her hands on the coveted prize—access to the Rasmussen papers—the more she gets tangled in a trap that might just be of her own making. Can she resist the temptation to possess, by any means, the letters, photographs and first drafts that could unlock the secret to Marianne Rasmussen's genius?

The Rasmussen Papers is a brilliant reply to Henry James' The Aspern Papers. Connie Gault flips James' story on its head and slides it into contemporary Toronto's Cabbagetown, among the marginalized and dispossessed, people the narrator studies as intently as she studies everyone she meets—until a confrontation on a streetcar makes her reconsider the limits of what you can know of another's story, and how hidden we all are, especially from ourselves.

Genres: Canada

192 pages, Paperback

Published May 14, 2024

About the author

Connie Gault is the author of two collections of short stories, several plays for stage and radio and the novel Euphoria, winner of the Saskatchewan Book Award for Fiction and short-listed for the High Plains Fiction Award and the Commonwealth Prize for Best Book of Canada and the Caribbean.

A former prose editor of grain magazine, Gault has also edited books of fiction, taught many creative writing classes, and mentored emerging writers through the Saskatchewan Writers Guild Mentorship Program.

She lives in Regina.

Reviews

[Maryam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating 3.5

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily distracted older lady that I truly identified with

[Tori Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read The Aspern Papers for the first time a few years ago, and the feeling it ultimately left me with was dissatisfaction. And then also guilt and a little humiliation, because who the hell am I to doubt the greatness of Henry James? Surely I must have just missed something, the fault had to be mine. I read it again after picking up this audiobook and seeing that it was such a direct response, and I'm glad I had it so fresh in my mind while reading this, though admittedly I felt just as uncomfortable with my own lukewarm reaction to Aspern the second time around.

What a relief it was to read this immediately after. Everything I was missing there I found here, and more besides. The narrator here may not be entirely free of self-delusion, but the awareness and uncomfortable honesty with which she viewed herself and the world and people around felt refreshing--perhaps not always insightful, but, to me, all the more striking for the lack. It's not a story that offers answers, but rather takes a clear-eyed look around and sits quietly in the discomfort of what it's seen. Rigorously conscious of the direct pressure wealth and class and gender all exert on our lives, in the way those of us being pressed must always necessarily be. The mundane spectacle of the world; no less spectacular for being tedious, no less banal for being perceived.

I texted my best friend about this book, described it as having "cracked me open like one of those plastic easter eggs", just the lightest pressure and then a subtle pop and then it's split in two, everything rushing out. Or maybe everything rushing in? Or maybe both?

I don't really know what else to say about this, and I really have to admit that I feel immense pressure writing this in the first place since, at the time that I'm writing it, there aren't any other reviews for this title on Goodreads--and once again, who the hell am I to have such definitive power? I loved this book and all the pain it caused me in reading it, and I'm going to read it again, and even when I'm not reading it I think I'm going to be carrying something of it around with me every day for the rest of my life. Maybe you will, too. Maybe you won't! I don't know, I'm just some guy. But I think you should try reading it, if you want to. And then maybe go for a ride on the streetcar, and take a look at the people around you there. Maybe even look too long, and make someone uncomfortable, and let it make you uncomfortable, too. Maybe we should all look at one another more. I don't know.

[Sally Basmajian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book delights me. The writing is always precise and occasionally breathtakingly beautiful. I linger over sentences, savoring the poetry in their construction. The pacing is perfect— like a gentle wave rolling in from afar, eventually breaking on the beach. The flawed but plucky narrator, with her obsessions and self-doubts, is sympathetic and believable.

I have never read the Henry James novel that inspired this one. I don’t think I will. For me, The Rasmussen Papers is such a satisfying experience that I see no reason to delve deeper. In fact, I'm afraid that The Aspern Papers might be a gigantic let-down.

The Rasmussen Papers is five stars, all the way. My fingers don’t hover in indecision; they punch the maximum reward points with vigor and gratitude. Kudos to Connie Gault for crafting a gorgeous novel. As a reader, I was thrilled. As a writer, I was envious, in the most positive kind of way!

[Clarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can always count on Connie Gault to deliver a thought-provoking, beautifully-written book. The Rasmussen Papers is a clever response to Henry James's The Aspern Papers, reversing the sexes of the main characters. I appreciated seeing a Jamesian world through the eyes of a female protagonist, and the inclusion of Cabbagetown as a character in its own right was a fun surprise.

The narrator is a clear-eyed observer of human nature (if not always of herself), and the ambiguity of her relationships, especially the one with the main male character Harry is particularly Jamesian. And the way her ambition plays out in this modern (but very much still a man's world) is fascinating to witness.

This book will be a particular delight for fans of Henry James, but anyone who appreciates literary novels and good writing will enjoy it.

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immersive, intimate, incisive writing, raising many questions (for example, who are we and how do we know ourselves, why write), offering empathy and compassion in response.

I admit I could be biased since Connie is a beloved Saskatchewan writer, but when I finish a book and all I want to do is turn back to page one and start reading again, I trust that.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too self-indulgent and poetic for my taste, but it actually kicks into a higher gear in its second half...I would have enjoyed more of the snark and dark humour I found in that half of the book.

[Matt Matt Tobin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great gender-bent retelling of its source material. The sometimes introspective and platitudinous moments effectively ebbed and flowed with high-stakes twists and unexpected plot points. A real ode to the method, betrayal, and understanding in the crafting of the written word.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I'm fascinated by writers, and this book explored not only a writer's process, but also how a writer becomes mythologized. In some ways, this book reminded me of Swann.

[Andrea MacLeod · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have not read The Aspen Papers, so the connection or response is clearly lost on me.

The language was good, the plot weird and I fail to see the point of it.

I'm sure it's a good book, just not for me.