What do you think?
Rate this book
Dark Matters: A Novel
In a dawn raid, Kate is arrested. She is imprisoned, beaten, kept awake and tortured. She has no idea what has happened to her partner, Mercedes. The uncertainty plagues her. It is as if she has no history. Trying to retain her sense of self in a swirling psychic state, she invents stories. And she remembers stories of her mother, her grandmothers and aunts, the rich mythic traditions of Greece. She rearranges them and writes poems in her head. After Kate’s death, her niece, Desi, is going through boxes of papers, trying to make sense of her aunt’s life. Desi travels to South America and unlocks the history of Mercedes' a history of political torture, disappearance and escape. Susan Hawthorne’s dark story uncovers the hidden histories of organized violence against lesbians. She traces fear and uncertainty, and finds a narrative of resilience created through the writing of poems. The author how do we pass on stories hidden by both shame and resistance to shame? A novel that is poetic and terrifying
- GenresFiction
204 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2017
About the author
Susan Hawthorne
44 books63 followersSusan Hawthorne is the author of six collections of poetry, a novel, political theory and a quiz book. Her poetry collections include The Language in My Tongue (1993), Bird (1999), The Butterfly Effect (2005), Unsettling the Land (with Suzanne Bellamy, 2008), Earth’s Breath (2009) and Cow (2011). Her other titles include The Falling Woman (1992), Wild Politics (2002) and The Spinifex Quiz Book (1993). Susan is a poet, novelist, aerialist, political activist and publisher.
Born in Wagga Wagga, she grew up in rural New South Wales. She has a BA (Hons) from La Trobe University in Philosophy, an MA (Prelim) in Ancient Greek language and a PhD in Political Science and Women’s Studies both from the University of Melbourne, and a Post-graduate Diploma in Sanskrit from La Trobe. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Writing Program at James Cook University, Townsville. In 2009, Susan was an Asialink Literature Resident at the University of Madras, Chennai. She has lectured, spoken and performed at festivals and conferences around Australia and in New Zealand, USA, Canada, UK, India, France, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Germany, Korea, Spain, Fiji, South Africa, Uganda. She is also a publisher and Director of Spinifex Press and played a leading role among independent Australian publishers in innovative and eBook publishing.
Born in Wagga Wagga, she grew up in rural New South Wales. She has a BA (Hons) from La Trobe University in Philosophy, an MA (Prelim) in Ancient Greek language and a PhD in Political Science and Women’s Studies both from the University of Melbourne, and a Post-graduate Diploma in Sanskrit from La Trobe. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Writing Program at James Cook University, Townsville. In 2009, Susan was an Asialink Literature Resident at the University of Madras, Chennai. She has lectured, spoken and performed at festivals and conferences around Australia and in New Zealand, USA, Canada, UK, India, France, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Germany, Korea, Spain, Fiji, South Africa, Uganda. She is also a publisher and Director of Spinifex Press and played a leading role among independent Australian publishers in innovative and eBook publishing.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 6, 2018
This is a poetic, painful book. It is indeed about dark matters: kidnapping and torture of lesbians.
The story turns between Chile and Australia so that I wasn't sure where I was, with forays into memories of Greek Isles. It goes back and forth between the tale of Kate, she who was tortured, a poet wondering whether her lover still lived, and her niece, Desi, trying years later to find out what happened.
Susan Hawthorne is a poet and feminist activist who started Spinifex Press in Australia. She has researched and written about men's torture of lesbians.
Though the book is beautifully written, I found it difficult because it is so painful.
The story turns between Chile and Australia so that I wasn't sure where I was, with forays into memories of Greek Isles. It goes back and forth between the tale of Kate, she who was tortured, a poet wondering whether her lover still lived, and her niece, Desi, trying years later to find out what happened.
Susan Hawthorne is a poet and feminist activist who started Spinifex Press in Australia. She has researched and written about men's torture of lesbians.
Though the book is beautifully written, I found it difficult because it is so painful.
October 7, 2017
Dark Matters is a heavily symbolic, disjointed novel that tells the story of a tortured lesbian prisoner under a violent regime. The two alternating narrators, both writing to piece together a record, are connected by their deep self-awareness and understandings of what their existence as lesbians means to them. Desi embarks on a dig through incomplete materials to understand the traumatic past of her Aunt Kate, and the lives of both women are revealed slowly and quite painfully. Hawthorne writes like a poet, but she is not afraid to speak clearly and frankly when the subject demands it: "What can a woman do when confronted with violations of her dignity, violence against her body? Is there a difference between what men can do and what women can do? The men here - and so far they are all men - their actions are sanctioned by the powerful. The corporations turned governments. What can I do? Write revenge poetry in my head when my sanity allows it?" Dark Matters is a novel that brings together geographical memory, historical memory, and the personal memories of two women to tell a neglected story of lesbian trauma and loss.
August 12, 2018
Dark Matters is a terrifying, yet beautiful novel by the Australian writer, Susan Hawthorne, published by the feminist and contemporary Spinifex Press, in 2017. It deals with the issues of homophobia, love, family, female heroism and terror.
This unique book defies categorisation. It is a work of literary fiction, with a side of horror, crime, and mystery. It is even dystopian at times.
It is a moving, post-modern novel about the disappearance and death of Kate, a lesbian who falls victim to a hate crime. The story is set in Australia, South America and Europe, and is told through three narrators: Mercedes, Kate and Desi.
We are first introduced to Mercedes, whose apt nick-name is Merci. The double meaning of ‘thank you’ in French and ‘mercy’ in English, as Kate retreats mercifully into memories with her partner.
Kate and Mercedes were in a relationship and Desi is Kate’s niece. In a secret dawn raid, Kate is abducted by unknown government officials in Australia and put in prison. Kate narrates through her prison diaries, the torture, beatings and rape she endures. Desi tries to understand Kate’s life by reading papers and tracking down Mercedes’ history too.
The novel moves almost randomly back and forth in time from before and after Kate’s death. Hawthorn also cleverly uses Kate’s numbered journal entries as hints of chronology, which chillingly evoke the ways in which the torture is changing Kate’s character.
The title alone indicates the depth of the novel. Dark Matters. As in Dark Matter that makes up the majority of the universe. We know it is there, and we can observe its gravitational pull but haven’t been able to access it directly or figure out what it is. In the wake of formal marriage equality for gay people, the kidnap and torture of Kate is a startling articulation of the ‘evident and invisible’ anti-gay structures that lurk beneath our cultural surface [quote is from Foucault, The Order of Things1970]. Hawthorne’s confronting book makes one wonder at the horrific possibilities beyond the scope of legislated equality; let us not forget that one in three Australians opposed it in the plebiscite.
Hawthorne opts to leave the page headers blank of her name and chapter titles, allowing the reader no escape – beyond the unavoidable numbering of pages – from the captivating discomforts she provides. Her short, declarative sentences enable the reader to forget themselves and imbibe the heady, bitter story without effort.
Even the book’s cover is captivating. Far from the generic photos of random people or figures to which I have become accustomed, it is a work of art in its own right. It features a black background, with pink text, white and black lines, red and black dots. The swirls, lines and dots are mitochondrial DNA.
Dark matters
DEB SNIBSON’S DESIGN USES AN IMAGE BY SUSAN BELLAMY.
To me this book is an amazing and individual way of exploring intense social issues. It makes connections to what happened to the Lesbians in Nazi Germany, and also what is still happening today in countries where lesbian’s freedom is not protected like it is in Australia.
I admire how she dealt with such horror filled themes that disgusted and engaged me as a reader at the same time. She manages to add some beauty to all this dark matter.
It has definitely left me in a different place. My understanding and experiences are expanded and clearer. For this, I highly recommend reading Dark Matters.
Lastly, I would like to put a disclaimer out to readers with their own traumas or experiences, to tread carefully. This novel confronts and challenges – and bravely deals with issues which may leave some disturbed.
This review by Madeleine Reid has featured in the Swinburne Journal ‘Other Terrain’, Issue 5.
This unique book defies categorisation. It is a work of literary fiction, with a side of horror, crime, and mystery. It is even dystopian at times.
It is a moving, post-modern novel about the disappearance and death of Kate, a lesbian who falls victim to a hate crime. The story is set in Australia, South America and Europe, and is told through three narrators: Mercedes, Kate and Desi.
We are first introduced to Mercedes, whose apt nick-name is Merci. The double meaning of ‘thank you’ in French and ‘mercy’ in English, as Kate retreats mercifully into memories with her partner.
Kate and Mercedes were in a relationship and Desi is Kate’s niece. In a secret dawn raid, Kate is abducted by unknown government officials in Australia and put in prison. Kate narrates through her prison diaries, the torture, beatings and rape she endures. Desi tries to understand Kate’s life by reading papers and tracking down Mercedes’ history too.
The novel moves almost randomly back and forth in time from before and after Kate’s death. Hawthorn also cleverly uses Kate’s numbered journal entries as hints of chronology, which chillingly evoke the ways in which the torture is changing Kate’s character.
The title alone indicates the depth of the novel. Dark Matters. As in Dark Matter that makes up the majority of the universe. We know it is there, and we can observe its gravitational pull but haven’t been able to access it directly or figure out what it is. In the wake of formal marriage equality for gay people, the kidnap and torture of Kate is a startling articulation of the ‘evident and invisible’ anti-gay structures that lurk beneath our cultural surface [quote is from Foucault, The Order of Things1970]. Hawthorne’s confronting book makes one wonder at the horrific possibilities beyond the scope of legislated equality; let us not forget that one in three Australians opposed it in the plebiscite.
Hawthorne opts to leave the page headers blank of her name and chapter titles, allowing the reader no escape – beyond the unavoidable numbering of pages – from the captivating discomforts she provides. Her short, declarative sentences enable the reader to forget themselves and imbibe the heady, bitter story without effort.
Even the book’s cover is captivating. Far from the generic photos of random people or figures to which I have become accustomed, it is a work of art in its own right. It features a black background, with pink text, white and black lines, red and black dots. The swirls, lines and dots are mitochondrial DNA.
Dark matters
DEB SNIBSON’S DESIGN USES AN IMAGE BY SUSAN BELLAMY.
To me this book is an amazing and individual way of exploring intense social issues. It makes connections to what happened to the Lesbians in Nazi Germany, and also what is still happening today in countries where lesbian’s freedom is not protected like it is in Australia.
I admire how she dealt with such horror filled themes that disgusted and engaged me as a reader at the same time. She manages to add some beauty to all this dark matter.
It has definitely left me in a different place. My understanding and experiences are expanded and clearer. For this, I highly recommend reading Dark Matters.
Lastly, I would like to put a disclaimer out to readers with their own traumas or experiences, to tread carefully. This novel confronts and challenges – and bravely deals with issues which may leave some disturbed.
This review by Madeleine Reid has featured in the Swinburne Journal ‘Other Terrain’, Issue 5.
October 15, 2025
7thBook #Madhureadingchallenge2025
Title : சொல்லக் கூடாத உறவுகள்
Author : சூசன் ஹாதோர்ன் (தமிழில் - சசிகலா பாபு)
Genere : மொழிப்பெயர்ப்பு நாவல்
Book Type : Paperback
Start Date : 8-Mar-25
End Date : 24-Mar-25
Rating : 3.5/5
Number of Page : 218
இமையம் அய்யா அவர்களின் பரிந்துரையின் பேரில் வாங்கிய புத்தகம்.
ஆண் பெண் காதல் உறவே தப்பாக பார்க்கப்பட்ட ஒரு காலத்தில் தன் பாலின காதல் எவ்வாறு பார்க்கப்பட்டு இருக்கும் என்பது நினைத்துப் பார்க்கவே மலைப்பாக உள்ளது.
இந்த புத்தகம் தன் பாலின காதலை, அதனால் அப்போதைய சமூகத்தில் இருந்த நெருக்கடி, ஆபத்துகளை பற்றியே விரிவாக பேசியுள்ள ஒரு மொழிபெயர்ப்பு புத்தகம்.
Spoiler:
தேசி என்பவர் தன்னுடைய வீட்டில் கண்டுடெடுக்கும் சில புகைப்படம் மற்றும் பேப்பர் குறிப்புகளில் இருந்து தன்னுடைய சித்தி கேத் என்பவரின் காதலை(தன் பாலின) பற்றியும் அவர் தன்னுடைய வாழ்வில் அனுபவித்த இன்னல்களை பற்றியும் அறிந்துக் கொள்கிறாள். இதன் பிறகு தூரத்தில் இருந்து பார்த்த சித்தியின் மீது அவளுக்கு இனம் புரியாத மரியாதையும் பரிவும் ஏற்பட, சித்தியின் காதலியான மெர்சிடிசை தேடி புறப்படுகிறாள். கேத்தை கைது செய்யும் போது கூட இருந்த மெர்சிடிஸ் என்ன ஆனார் என்பது சுவாரசியமாக செல்கிறது.
கேத் மீது அவிழ்க்கப்படும் வன்முறைகள் நினைத்துக் கூட பார்க்கமுடியாத ஒன்று.
இவ்வளவு முன்னேறம் அடைந்த இந்த காலத்தில் லெஸ்பியன்களை பற்றி கதை, சினிமா என்று வந்தாலும் இன்னும் இழிவாகவும் ஏளனமாகவும் பார்க்கும் எண்ணம் மாறவில்லை. கதை நடந்தாக கூறும் வருடங்களில் உள்ள சூழலை நினைத்து பார்க்கவே பயங்கரமாக உள்ளது.
கதை முடியும் போது "mercedis u are not deserved kedh" என்ற எண்ணம் எழுவதை தடுக்க முடியவில்லை.
#காதல்_என்பது_பொதுவுடமை
Title : சொல்லக் கூடாத உறவுகள்
Author : சூசன் ஹாதோர்ன் (தமிழில் - சசிகலா பாபு)
Genere : மொழிப்பெயர்ப்பு நாவல்
Book Type : Paperback
Start Date : 8-Mar-25
End Date : 24-Mar-25
Rating : 3.5/5
Number of Page : 218
இமையம் அய்யா அவர்களின் பரிந்துரையின் பேரில் வாங்கிய புத்தகம்.
ஆண் பெண் காதல் உறவே தப்பாக பார்க்கப்பட்ட ஒரு காலத்தில் தன் பாலின காதல் எவ்வாறு பார்க்கப்பட்டு இருக்கும் என்பது நினைத்துப் பார்க்கவே மலைப்பாக உள்ளது.
இந்த புத்தகம் தன் பாலின காதலை, அதனால் அப்போதைய சமூகத்தில் இருந்த நெருக்கடி, ஆபத்துகளை பற்றியே விரிவாக பேசியுள்ள ஒரு மொழிபெயர்ப்பு புத்தகம்.
Spoiler:
தேசி என்பவர் தன்னுடைய வீட்டில் கண்டுடெடுக்கும் சில புகைப்படம் மற்றும் பேப்பர் குறிப்புகளில் இருந்து தன்னுடைய சித்தி கேத் என்பவரின் காதலை(தன் பாலின) பற்றியும் அவர் தன்னுடைய வாழ்வில் அனுபவித்த இன்னல்களை பற்றியும் அறிந்துக் கொள்கிறாள். இதன் பிறகு தூரத்தில் இருந்து பார்த்த சித்தியின் மீது அவளுக்கு இனம் புரியாத மரியாதையும் பரிவும் ஏற்பட, சித்தியின் காதலியான மெர்சிடிசை தேடி புறப்படுகிறாள். கேத்தை கைது செய்யும் போது கூட இருந்த மெர்சிடிஸ் என்ன ஆனார் என்பது சுவாரசியமாக செல்கிறது.
கேத் மீது அவிழ்க்கப்படும் வன்முறைகள் நினைத்துக் கூட பார்க்கமுடியாத ஒன்று.
இவ்வளவு முன்னேறம் அடைந்த இந்த காலத்தில் லெஸ்பியன்களை பற்றி கதை, சினிமா என்று வந்தாலும் இன்னும் இழிவாகவும் ஏளனமாகவும் பார்க்கும் எண்ணம் மாறவில்லை. கதை நடந்தாக கூறும் வருடங்களில் உள்ள சூழலை நினைத்து பார்க்கவே பயங்கரமாக உள்ளது.
கதை முடியும் போது "mercedis u are not deserved kedh" என்ற எண்ணம் எழுவதை தடுக்க முடியவில்லை.
#காதல்_என்பது_பொதுவுடமை
November 4, 2017
It’s rare I give a five star review. The book has to be epic and it has to produce an emotional response me. I was crying as I finished this book so I couldn’t give it four stars. It had produced quite the reaction. At a deeply personal level. You know I don’t like reading violent, sinister, disturbing or dark books - it took me months to get over THE HANDMAID'S TALE!! - but this book commanded to be read. By lesbians, by women, by everyone who refuses to have their spirit broken by men in authority. There’s darkness in this novel. A lot of it. But there is also lightness and poetry and love. Since finishing the novel I’ve been reflecting on so many things I take for granted, and for women who are tortured for whom they love. This was an eye opener and I’m sure I will be thinking about this book for a while to come.....
October 23, 2017
I can't write anything more than Hannah. She was absolutely spot on.
August 25, 2022
the worst ever
September 5, 2023
Love having to edit down a rating on account of discovering the author is a massive TERF and it colours the content of a book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews