Sprigs

by Brannavan Gnanalingam

It is Saturday afternoon and two boys’ schools are locked in battle for college rugby supremacy. Priya – a fifteen year old who barely belongs – watches from the sidelines.

Then it is Saturday night and the team is partying, Priya's friends have evaporated and she isn't sure what to do.

In the weeks after 'the incident' life seems to go on. But when whispers turn to confrontation, the institutions of wealth and privilege circle the wagons.

Genres: Fiction, Crime

438 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 2020

About the author

Brannavan Gnanalingam was born in Sri Lanka and moved to New Zealand via Zimbabwe at the age of three.
He is a music and film reviewer for the Lumière Reader, Under the Radar, and the Dominion Post, and also works as a lawyer in Wellington, New Zealand.
He is the author of five novels, all published by Wellington publishing collective Lawrence & Gibson which specialises in experimental non-fiction and heavyweight literature.

Reviews

[Trudie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

I finished this novel over a week ago and it is still kicking around in my head. Will I ever get a good handle on it? I don't know.

Sprigs is one of the most impactful novels I have read recently. It left me feeling like I had just been the ball in the Rugby game that is described in the opening pages.
As an aside, has any other NZ novelist tackled a Rugby game montage in what read like real-time? It's apt in hindsight but more than once I considered the angle I would need to apply to drop-kick the book over my balcony into the garden. It is possible that reading about lineouts is even more tedious than watching them ;)

Luckily for me once I got past the 60-odd pages of a Rugby game I couldn't put it down.

The subject matter here is onerous, sexual assault of a teenager and its aftermath. Virtually, no one comes out of this story looking good. Private schools, in particular, come in for a less than flattering treatment. The legal profession, journalists, police and to a certain extent Kiwi culture itself is displayed in the worst possible light. The story is an almost perfect storm of people in authority performing poorly. Readers could not be blamed for walking away from this book thinking humanity is a bust. Luckily, Gnananlingam has a great eye for the comical and the satirical (see A Briefcase, Two Pies and a Penthouse for more of that ). But it is no small challenge to walk a line between the seriousness of the subject matter and the risk of creating a farce. At times it didn't navigate that line as well as I would have liked and risked undercutting its emotional impact.
Then Part 4 comes along and is a devastatingly bit of writing. The author mentions in the acknowledgements he was mining past trauma for this section and it does feel like this section was written quite separately from the rest of the novel. It is a very raw and frank account of a teenager dealing with an appalling calamity and its life-changing consequences.

I found myself in a deeply contemplative space at the end of this novel. There were no neatly proffered outcomes in which I could convince myself that everyone was going to be ok. In this novel everyone shoulders unimaginable damages as best they can and there is little indication of "lessons learnt". This is perhaps a bleaker reading than was intended but it felt truthful.

Another NZ literature standout and my pick for this years Ockham ( admittedly I am being monstrously unfair to novels I have yet to read ).

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only have great things to say about this incredibly accomplished, affecting novel. Sprigs deals with some challenging material (the trigger warnings at the outset are all justified) but this shouldn't dissuade you from reading. Gnanalingam does a range of impressive things in this novel. First, and most significantly, he presents a nuanced, thoughtful, and uncompromising portrait of toxic masculinity and abuse of privilege in New Zealand society. There is a lot about this that highly confronting, but the weight of this novel lies in its willingness to look directly at these issues.

Secondly, work in characterisation of a host of really diverse characters, and the crystal clear portrayal of familiar places and spaces in our society is unparalleled. I was worried when I started this, both about reading teenage girls written by an adult man, and about whether school culture would be overblown. Neither of these things were problematic. Gnanalingam captures both the individual voices, and the politics of the social groups and organisations.

It's pitch perfect; hard to look at, but harder to look away.

Sprigs is likely to be the best book I read this year.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most difficult books I have ever read (due to its subject matter, not the writing style). I was hooked by page 1. But it is a harrowing read. It feels to me that this is the book no New Zealand writer has previously dared to write about - I.e. a detestable aspect of the rugby culture of which most NZers are so proud. If this doesn't at least get selected for the NZ book awards in 2021 it will be a scandal!

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this 5 stars because I haven't been able to stop thinking about this book since I started reading it. The plot is basically a rape by members of the 1st XVI rugby team at an after match party, so there are plenty of triggers to be aware of. But what really had me hooked was how real this all felt. There are multiple points of view from a large number of characters, all with a different connection to the 'incident' and including the rapists and the victim, so while all points of view are presented it's very difficult to empathise enough to be able to justify the actions of these boys. Or are they themselves victims of a particularly horrible type of NZ culture? This novel has been so well crafted, and even though the swearing and gross behaviour nearly had me stop reading within the first few pages, I'm very glad that I continued. Plenty to think about and what seems to me to be a very accurate reflection on some parts of NZ society. Highly recommended, but because of the content this may not be for everyone.

[Trevor Pinta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sprigs will leave its mark on you. A brave and brilliant book by one of New Zealand's most important writers.

[Karen Kozuls · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is confronting, upsetting and depressing. Depressing because of the way that the victims of sexual violence are still treated in our world.

Even though this is fiction, I feel a responsibility to hear of the victims' experiences and to try and understand their truth.

A powerful story in a NZ setting. (I admit I skimmed through the first chapter all about the rugby.)

[Natalie Fraser-Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in 2 sittings as I couldn’t put it down! It was completely harrowing but such a good read. I keep finding it drifting into my thoughts; I think it will stay with me a long time.

[Eileen Merriman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brave, unflinching novel centred around the gang rape of a fifteen-year old at a party – it’s skilfully told, and raises issues of toxic masculinity, racism, and the misdirected power of the privileged. As always, Gnanalingam’s dry wit weaves throughout the book, and he has a real gift for dialogue. This is the third book I have read by Gnanalingam, and they are all very different and very, very good.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has just made the fiction short list for the Ockham NZ Book Awards. Do read it - it's a hard story, all too believable, reflecting the toxic masculinity and racist part of NZ culture.

[Josephine Draper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This is SUCH a good book. Surely inspired by the Roast Busters scandal, as the content warning states - this is a book about sexual violence. It was one I read in just a couple of sittings. From the first part of the book, The Game - describing a blow-by-blow account of a rugby game - I was surprisingly hooked.

Brannavan Gnanalingam has the most amazing ability to get into a range of different characters, from the loutish rugby lads, to the put-upon-teacher, to the arrogant old boys, to the violated young girl. By switching perspective throughout, he demonstrates this skill, and particularly in the final section of the book - told from Priya's perspective and arguably the hardest of the voices to seem authentic - which he nails.

The book hinges on one Incident, but it's all of the things that happen around it which enrich the story. The long middle section, where the reactions to the Incident play out is ripe with incisive observations which leave you booing and cheering in turn. The moment where you find yourself booing and yet nodding knowingly is at a meeting of the boys school where one of the board members, referring to one of the students, asks Can we pin it on him? I can't say more without ruining the plot, but let's just say, this is the kind of behaviour you have come to expect.

There're another few classic moments in the final section where you see the world turning on the victim and through her eyes, how she is just a leaf on the river, being dragged along, hopelessly. Innocents getting the blame for the violence perpetrated against them.

Thank goodness we have a few heroes to cheer for - schoolboy Tim, Amma in her confrontation with the school, because this could be an incredibly bleak story. And yet, it isn't. It manages to finish hopefully, while carefully peeling back the layers and reactions to this one Incident. Many, many lives are altered by it. Our world is just not set up to cope with this kind of situation, and Brannavan lifts the lid on a culture of privilege, warts and all, and shows us what happens when this world faces a crisis.

The whole book is so clever. It reminded me of JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy for its characterisation and plotting - though with a better ending. A final thought, I really enjoyed the consideration of what wealth does to people. I would now like to go back and read Brannavan's earlier book about the vulnerable underclass, Sodden Downstream.

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well if I swap rugby for rowing and rename the schools, this is eerily familiar to the Wellington high schools in 2017...

A tough read but a really well thought out one.

[Judith Yeabsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost didn't read it because of all the warnings at the beginning - not because I shy away from that but because it seemed attention seeking. However, glad I did as the book was a really earthy look at a challenging topic. The different POV's made it all the more confronting, emotive and enabled a cleverly crafted debate as to how the incident affects people on different levels. I LOVED the scene with Amma and the principal - it should be made into a movie just so I can watch that over and again. Ditto the grandmother - beautiful.

[Brigitte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the easiest of reads / subject matter but handled beautifully. Now I need to read more of his books. Can see this as a 6 part tv series.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

SPRIGS by Brannavan Gnanalingam is a searing expose of white, male privilege and the brazen underpinning of enablement and support that seemingly encourages, and if required, covers-up the actions of young men. Trigger Warning: It's about a gang rape, young men and an even younger victim. It's about racism, difference, toxic masculinity and cover up culture. It's a timely novel, it won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel in 2021 and it is exactly the sort of book that is required right now.

Written by a male author, it's about the damage that boys, young men - in this case private school, elite sports types - can do to anyone who is different from them. And in particular the damage that their entitlement can do to young women. The voices are well executed, the setting and the build up believable and the inevitability of what happens devastating. In the book's acknowledgements, the author makes particular mention of the past trauma that influenced, in particular, part 4 of the novel, which before understanding that was moving, after knowing, it becomes devastating. It's raw, frank, and speaks volumes of the struggle of a teenager trying to process events like those in this story.

It's not an investigative novel however, SPRIGS is all about the lead-up to, and the consequences of a savage, life-changing attack on a young girl who was unfortunate enough to be caught up in the tidal wave of celebration of school sports, who wasn't looked out for, wasn't supported, was different. Priya is fifteen years old when watching a rugby game from the sidelines sets in train a series of events that are all too easy to imagine happening, all too easy to imagine the aftermath - the cover-up, the victim blaming, the utter and complete bastardry of a bunch of people who should have done better, could have done better, would have done better had they not been supporters of / participants in / fallen for the privilege, the acceptability of toxic masculinity, the not my problem narrative that was there, just under the surface the whole way through this story.

Obviously SPRIGS is a novel right of this time, when eyes are being forced to open, appalling behaviour is being called out, and consequences are being delivered for more toxic masculinity and rape culture. Having said that, there's a hell of a long way to go with all of this, and SPRIGS isn't a preachy or high-handed novel. Instead it's measured, scathing, sarcastic, pointed, witty and all the more searing because of that.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...

[Karen Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a shocking book, but as it unfolds in a very ordinary way this intensifies the impact of what the story is.
Everything in the story is so familiar and covers the what transpires from a whole range of perspectives. This again adds to the shock when you witness the self serving, innocence, racism, inequity, the games people play with each and how lives unravel .

Its hard to read, harder still to understand this, is how things are.

[Becca Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant novel. I was so worried about these characters because it felt like they were real people. I work in the sort of world depicted in the story, and Gnanalingam has it to a tee. The slip into trauma narrative is harrowing and equally authentic. Outstanding.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. Not an easy book to rate or review as it is still kicking around in my head and it surfaces every now and again when I read an article or see something that sends my mind back to this novel. I think this is a story that will stay with me for a long time if not forever. The content is not easy to swallow and although fictional, it is an ugliness that occurs all too often in real life. Don't be put off reading this by the content and graphic warnings. The book does not actually go into graphic details of the assault or the victim's injuries, it is left to the reader to fill in the blanks. Not to say that reading this will not evoke some very strong emotions. The story's focus is on the reactions and attitudes of the various characters in the book. From the victim, her family and friends, the horrible boy's that carried out the rape, rugby coach, teachers at the college, board members, parents of the boy's and all the people that are quick to judge on social media. If I had to sum the book up in 2 words it would be "self preservation". I just wanted to go out and track down some of these fictional characters!! We cannot turn a blind eye to the systemic drinking culture we have in New Zealand nor can we use drinking or being drunk as a reason to abuse and be abused.
I felt a bit let down by Part 4 The Trial. Priya's reaction, attitude and thoughts just did not come off as authentic and I found myself questioning whether a teenage girl would have responded as she did. The ending left so many questions unresolved and was a bit of a cop out that it jumped a few years at the end without answering these. I wanted some justice, Priya deserved that and so did I as the reader. You need to read this book!!

[Chloe Fergusson-Tibble · Rating 5 out of 5]

📚📚📚REVIEW 📚📚📚
Sprigs by Brannavan Gnanalingam (NZ Author)
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🐈: A TOP book of 2020
👩🏽‍⚕️: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Finished in 24 hours cause it was soooo good!
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The book starts with explicit trigger warnings, so this review does too. Rape, violence, homophobia, racism, Islamaphobia.
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This is a story about how white male privilege and power operate to protect rapists. Boys from a private school in Wellington gang rape and video a 15yo girl, Priya, at an after party following a rugby match. It’s told in four parts; the rugby game, the after party, the meeting, and the trial. Nothing is left out and the book exposes the worst parts of Kiwi culture that are undoubtedly some of the best kept secrets.
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This story is a large metal sledge hammer. It splits apart the concrete wall representing all that is wrong in New Zealand. The wall, which made of white male privilege, racism, rugby culture, rape culture, victim blaming, homophobia, and Islamaphobia. Each part of the wall is held up in the spotlight and inspected with great care and attention. Its raw, confronting, and a tough read. The author creates scenes that are so vivid and so deplorably part of our Kiwi culture that it’s at times sickening. As a brown girl growing up in Aotearoa it resonated. As a Māori woman - it resontated. The way that white privilege and wealth control - resonated. This is us.
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It’s not all bleak. Readers are left with Pri’s voice - and shit - that really matters. Hearing her story lights a fire in ya belly. It leaves you feeling empowered to fight systems of oppression. I felt all armoured up to take the next lot of bullets from white parents who get uppity about Māori admission schemes to medical school. Or just the next lot of bullets from racists in general.
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This is a must read New Zealand book. It will surely get an award. I want to talk about it with everyone - so please READ IT NOW?
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#sprigs #nzlit #readnz #aotearoareads #bookstagram #catsofinstagram #bookish #booklover #booksrule #ilovebooks

[Vaughan Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost perfect characterisation and voice in a dry-witted novel about contemporary multicultural NZ and where it intersects with schoolboy rugby. Well, that was the first part anyway. The second part tells of an after-match party that led to the gang rape of Priya, a naive 15-year-old of Sri Lankan extraction and the events in the subsequent two or three weeks as St Lukes, a prestigious Hutt Valley boys’ school, tries to protect its reputation as word leaks out. The third section, related in the first person, is Priya’s story — a day-by-day, sometimes hour-by-hour account from waking up the next morning to eventually going to the police to make a complaint. A very powerful but structurally uneven book with a cast of dozens and unflagging pace. Gnanalingam has a Knausgaard-like ability to simply observe everyday happenings and human behaviour and make them fascinating. And his knowledge of high-powered lawyerly ways and insider’s knowledge of the Sri Lankan Tamil community add potent notes of realism. The outsiders such as maths teacher Karim Hussein from Iraq and Ritchie the Polynesian rugby star are some of the most interesting and well-drawn characters. I could go on and on. Genuinely unputdownable.

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

We went to hear Brannavan Gnanalingam talk about this book and found him to be a sincere and perceptive person. Although Sprigs is in no way autobiographical, he does draw on some of his experiences at school in this part of the world.

This book challenges the culture of toxic masculinity among teenage boys and adult men in our schooling system and in the world of rugby - that violent game that the media seems determined to promote as the defining emblem of NZ masculinity.

Although the story is about a brutal rape it is not told in a gratuitous or voyeuristic way thank heavens. It is quite challenging enough in the misogynistic and entitled attitudes that are portrayed. To be fair, girls are challenged too - to speak out, to protect each other, to not join in the persecution and name calling of other girls.

This book is also about our drinking culture and its role of initiation and dis-inhibitor for teenagers. It's also about the wild world of the internet and social media where reputations are lost, abuse dished out and bullying rampant.

A disturbing and important book.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really well written. The book keeps shifting perspective between the different characters. It is a cynical but worryingly believable portrayal - they are so out of their depth and just trying to get by.

The first 15 rugby team at a private school play their final match and then go to an after party where a girl gets gang raped. The incident isn’t described directly - you learn it slowly through hints and rumours afterwards. Again, it is very realistic in the fact that you are trying to piece together what happened from “he said, she said” references. The school principal cannot cope and completely mishandles the incident, as does the girl’s principal. It is only at the end of the book that you hear her perspective.

This is a pretty bleak but searingly brutal book and well worth reading.

[Amanda Vaughan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important book that deals with privilege, masculinity, and many of the darker parts of human nature and NZ society. A closely observed 4 part story - each quite different in style - but it takes till the last until we hear the victim’s side of the story which I think was deliberate and aligns with the suggested themes, but I found myself wishing through all the school teacher handwringing chapters that we could hear a woman’s voice.
I’m also not sure if it’s intended as a YA novel - the core story would grip high school students for sure, (and trigger and traumatize some) but the rugby and legal jargon might prove a barrier. It should have a wider audience but the age of the protagonists might put off adults.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping, powerful book that I can't stop thinking about. The author deals with a harrowing topic in a unique way, with a meticulous eye for detail. Each character’s voice is captured in such a way that they feel real, like people we have come across before. We hear everyone's perspective from the rugby players, their teachers, parents and friends, as well as the central narrative of the teenage girl who is gang-raped. It’s a book about toxic masculinity, racism, power & privilege. Where reputation is more important than the well-being of a child. It doesn’t have the answers, but starts off a conversation about how we can all do better.

[Augusta · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Set in NZ, about a high school girl who gang raped at a party and the events that happen afterwards.

I really enjoyed the way the author got into the heads of all the characters and I liked the structure of how we hear a little from Priya at the beginning, and then she goes very silent for a long time after the event, and then the book ends with just her PoV. I do feel like the story could have been tighter, it felt a bit loose and quite a few things just trailed off.

[Marilyn Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a little while to get into it - probably because of the structure (the first 40 pages is a detailed description of a high school rugby match), and then switches to multiple perspectives. Once I did, I found it very compelling and sensitively told. Sometimes one or two of the key older male characters read like caricatures to me, but on the whole Gnanalingam has a tremendous ability to get inside different characters and bring them to life vividly.

[Craig Sisterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A devastating read from a talented writer that takes readers deep into not the investigation of a crime, but the lead-up to and impact of a savage, life-changing event on many involved, directly and the ripples outwards. Harrowing and extraordinary, a powerful and important read.

More to say later. Needs mulling. But highly recommended.

[Lucy Revill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking and all too real for those who went to school in New Zealand. This books nails the conflict of dynamics and why justice isn’t always like we imagine it will end up. Written with heart, wisdom and honesty. Loved it.

[Dawn Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Written beautifully. The characters are mostly well fleshed-out and believable, but I thought the principal was too gormless for a well-heeled private school. The story is harrowing, and I really liked (but found difficult to read) the final part. Highly recommended.

[Laurence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very powerful piece of writing in all aspects - characters, plot, voice, choices - and an important book about New Zealand culture. I waited until I had a clear stretch to read part 4, and it was worth waiting for.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brutal but beautifully done. This book ripped my heart out, stamped all over it, then sewed it back into my chest and expected me to go about my day. So much to process.