Smoke in the Room

by Emily Maguire

From the internationally-acclaimed author of Taming the Beast, The Gospel According to Luke and Fishing for Tigers.

Summer, Sydney, and holed up in a tiny flat off Broadway are idealistic American Adam, weary activist Graeme, and wild, misunderstood Katie. Each is searching for answers to life's biggest questions - why are we here; what is love; what constitutes betrayal - and thrust together, over an intense two-week period, they begin to form answers. In doing so, they must first confront their darkest demons, both within and without...

Provocative, honest, brimming with sexual tension and crackling with intelligence, this sensational novel cements Maguire's place as one of Australia's best young writers.

PRAISE FOR EMILY MAGUIRE

"At the heart of ... Emily Maguire's work lies an urgent need to pull away at the interconnecting threads of morality, society and human relationships." Sydney Morning Herald

"what you get, along with a sharp mind and a keenness to investigate cultural confusions, is an engaging ability to put the vitality of the story first." Weekend Australian

Genres: Fiction, Australia

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[John Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a recommended holiday novel. From reading about Ms Maguire's writing of this third novel, she experienced a life threatening stroke while writing this at 29, supposedly she made the characters softer than originally. I shudder to think what the original was like. Mental illness, spousal death, severe refugee situations, alcohol abuse, suicide, and a fair bit more, be warned.

Maguire certainly writes well and I loved that it took place in my hometown of Sydney, all the places mentioned I know well and even used to take the 440 bus regularly, the final scene taking place close to where I was married 35 years ago, but the three disparate individuals living in a shared flat on Broadway was a difficult and painful read. Only for the keen, not an easy read at all.

Library ebook.

[Spongerina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong character analysis. Symptoms of mental illness well depicted.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recall that when this book was reviewed in the national papes, the flaming hoop that Maguire was asked to jump through repeatedly was the story of how it was written…your classic montage where plucky author recovers from adversity (a stroke at 29) and returns to her project to inject it with a new softness, a recognition of mortality and reluctance to move her character like chess pieces.

I have to say this really, really gets on my tits.

I’m not interested in the cult of the author. Sophie Cunningham’s debut novel Geography suffered from similar reviews – they were all about her confessedly autobiographical content, and the sex. Not very much about the plot or the flashes of fineness in the writing. It’s a dangerous game to play, the author-as-better-than-book. I actually want to know about the book, not whether the author is babelicious, but maybe I’m out of date in our Kim-Kardashian-gets-soundbites-on-the-news world. I’m sure having a stroke and recovering, and going on to finish the project interrupted by such an experience is an amazing achievement, but I don’t actually want to have the theme from Rocky playing in my head as I read. Ta, anyways.

Especially one like this, which so carefully, subtly inveigles itself into you, with it’s smart girl spinning like a Dervish between the two odd poles of the American ex-poof-surprise-hippy Adam, up for some ripe self-flagellation after the sudden death of his wife, and Graham, aid-worker, possibly the most suppressed depressive in existence. It makes for an interesting share-house.

I liked very much Maguire’s achievement in drawing the tight dance-steps of the crazed world of Katie and her thrown-together companions. People who don’t “participate” in life – no tai chi in the park or multiplexes or home-made pizza or shampooing Labradors. A tight, well realised frenzy of benders, bad-sex and dirty living rooms, the same walls getting grimier and greasier from bad thoughts and worse TV. Graham with the extremities of memory, the misery of long-term foreign-aid work, running in his head like pornography for a man running down. Adam with his suppression of normalcy, a Dionysian response to loss. The narrative viewpoint is expertly modulated, the dialogue snaps. Katie is as vivid as your worst ever hangover, the alcohol you retch at the smell of even twenty years later. The men were less embodied, but not noticeably to the book’s detriment.

Suicide, bi-polar and the value of life. Big themes for a small flat with overflowing ashtrays.

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a lot to live up to as the 3rd of Emily Maguire's novels.
Choosing the issues to tackle of depression, anxiety, and suicidal intentions as her subject for this book is certainly gutsy and plucky to say the least.
Once again though, she pulls it off in exceptional style.
There is definitely a new softness to her characters in this novel than I have seen in the other 2. I believe her style of characters came about from her suffering a stroke mid way through writing the novel, as I have read that after her stroke she came back to the draft and found it somewhat ‘cold’.
Whatever the reason, I found this novel to be her best yet.
I look forward to reading her 4th novel 'Fishing for Tigers' in the near future.

[tee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes it's nice to just read a good story and this was one of those. Although completely different to most other books that I have rated four star; most of which are stunning, prose-rich tomes - this one got a high rating because I couldn't put it down. I was invested in the characters and I wanted to know what happened next. I also related to the themes, having dealt with the issues of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and so on in my own life. Which is bitter sweet; I wish I didn't relate and I was reading it through the eyes of the uninitiated but it's comforting to know that I'm not alone. But also fucking depressing.

Weirdly, and I don't know whether it's just me, but I find that a lot of Australian books have a similar vibe. Dark, slow, foggy stories usually about damaged, scarred people. Books that come to mind are Praise by Andrew McGahan and Bone Flute by Nicole Bourke. There's lots of others too. It must be something in the water.

So all in all it was a depressing read. I'm really sensitive these days and whereas I used to seek out the morbid, dwell on it and revel in it; these days I tend to avoid them as best as I can. I'm triggered by everything and although I never thought I'd be this kind of person, I spend my time focusing on rainbows, unicorns, warm sunshine and baby animals because I've had enough of bleak. I just can't do it anymore. Even with all the positive, sunbeam & lemonade shit in my life, I'm still on the brink of self-destruction continually. So, a book like this, with it's miserable, grey existential angst is enough to send me spiralling down.

I'm hanging in there though but it goes without saying that this is the last book with such content matter that I'll be picking up for a good, long while. Hand me Harry Potter, a steaming chai latte and a fluffball of a kitten, STAT.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent character study about an emotional screwed up woman, Katie, and American, Adam, who moves in for the summer. Worth reading.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Maguire is a fantastic writer, but this is not her best.

[Michelle Prak]

I'm glad I read this, though it was hard to stick with at times. The lifestyles of the three central characters - strange flat mates - were repellent to be honest. Some conversations about life and happiness felt too contrived but ultimately it was excellently wrought, with characters the reader can believe in and some hope emerging.

[Alex Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it - not my usual kind of thing, and refreshing for that. An interesting portrayal of mental illness, lost youth, life's challenges and disappointments, set in modern Sydney. Well written with some very compelling characters.

[Nicole Consterdine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kept me interested but not a good ending

[Shona Clingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review posted first on shonakaye.com

Adam is lost in grief for his dead wife. Graeme is lost to despair for a world that can’t be fixed. And Katie is lost to depression. That’s a lot of hopelessness in one tiny Australian flat. Nevertheless, that despair is what made Smoke in the Room a compelling read.

I read Emily Maguire’s earlier novel, Taming the Beast, and fell in love with the gritty style of prose and her flawed central characters.

This one… it’s a good read. There’s a lot of truth in it and the characters, after a grotesque amount of binge drinking, gratuitous sex, and eating out of the trash, eventually (mostly) stumble their way into the light.

Katie, the main character, is as flawed as Taming the Beast’s protagonist. She’s a spirited young woman with an insightful (though bleak) view of the world but it took too long to see her fragility. Of course, she is troubled; it’s plain to see, but the initial lack of warmth in Katie’s character meant that I’d read over a third of the book before even liking her.

That said, after the slightly cold (but ridiculously intriguing) start, Katie’s vulnerability is slashed wide open. THIS I could connect with, relate to, and understand. I MARVELLED at the word-perfect emotion behind these characters as each of them faced their demons. The depiction of mental illness is so accurate it bites, and the blissful illusion of suicide is perfectly portrayed.

The book is gritty and edgy; the theme is dark and quite unforgiving. But once the wounds of these characters crack open, it is impossible to pause their story.

‘…depressed people are the ones with the realistic view of the world. It’s the rest of you that have filters. Soft filters that make everything seem nicer and easier than it really is. Maybe that’s all depression really is: life without a filter.’

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Smoke in the Room was not as readable or enjoyable as Emily Maguire’s previous two novels. It felt a bit like a writer forcing herself to flex her muscle, to try new things. The novel suffers for it, but perhaps the writer is better.

None of the characters was able to elicit empathy. There was redemption, more so than its opposite. But you almost didn’t care that the characters were redeemed. There was not much plot. The story did not pull you along as had her previous novels. And while the characters were interesting, just being interested was not enough to sustain the book.

I finished the book as a chore, one that I’m glad is complete. I look forward to her future novels, hoping she returns to the intensity in both of her previous ones. I can not recommend this novel, despite some of the truths that it holds.

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure how I felt about this book. I enjoyed reading it and the characters were interesting, but didn't draw me in the same way Maguire's other two novels (Taming the Beast, Gospel According to Luke) did. In Smoke in the Room there is not really a lot of action that propels the story. (Maybe my problem is that I'm comparing this to her other novels) As is her usual style, Maguire writes about distinctive dark characters with depth put in unique situations. I really like Maguire's writing style and can't wait to read more.

[Penelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this, despite it's rather bleak subject matter and sad trio of characters. The three unlikely housemates, Katie, Adam and Graeme are all compelling and believable characters, and I warmed to each of them in different ways. There were elements in this that reminded me of the first Maguire novel I read, 'Taming the Beast', namely the depressed and disturbed young woman at the centre of the story. Bonus that it's set in Sydney so the places were all familiar to me. Thoroughly engrossing despite it's dark themes.

[Liz Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I hated reading but kept going back to see what happened next.

Emily Maguire is a great writer. Her characters are so flawed and damaged. You would not like Katie if you met her in real life but as a character she is so real and raw. I just wanted someone to take her and get her the help she needed.

I just didn't like this book. It was too dark and uncomfortable to read.

[Jacqui · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book I have read by Emily Maguire. It was beautiful.

Three room-mates circle each others lives like a pack of wolves in this hungry, greedy novel. Maguire's writing is a work of art.

[Louise Omer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes poignant yet often plodding, I always find it hard to care for characters without a hint of passion or purpose. Probably an accurate depiction of life for some people, an unfulfilled life is hardly inspiring.

[Rhi1981 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a dark and powerful story. If the standard of this book is anything to go by, I will certainly be interested in reading the rest of Maguire's work. A compelling read.

[Lachlan Sims · Rating 2 out of 5]

Readable story of several intersecting lives, did not feel as intimate with the characters as "Gospel According to Luke"

[Zuzu Burford · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story. Such a different subject and extremely well written.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book from an Aussie writer. Katie is suffering from depression, Adam from grief and Graeme from life and a depression he hides.

Sad and hard to read in parts, but very engrossing.

[Robin Riedstra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is dark, gritty and at times depressing... and I loved it.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. A rich exploration of the differing emotional experiences of the three main characters.