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Unter Deck
Eben fühlte sich Olivia noch aufgehoben in der überwältigenden Magie des Meeres, als die Segelschifffahrt mit fünf gleichaltrigen Männern unvermittelt zum traumatischen Erlebnis wird. Ein wilder, aufwühlender, sprachgewaltiger Roman, der alle Sinne anspricht.
312 pages, Hardcover
First published March 3, 2020
67 people are currently reading
4481 people want to read
About the author
Sophie Hardcastle
5 books165 followersSophie Hardcastle is now known at Dylin Hardcastle. They are an author, artist, screenwriter and scholar.
They are the author of Below Deck (2020), Breathing Under Water (2016) and Running like China (2015). They are the co-writer, co-director and co-creator of Cloudy River, which premiered at Mardi Gras Film Festival in 2020 and was acquired by SBS On Demand.
You can find their new novel, A Language of Limbs under their new author Goodreads profile - Dylin Hardcastle
They are the author of Below Deck (2020), Breathing Under Water (2016) and Running like China (2015). They are the co-writer, co-director and co-creator of Cloudy River, which premiered at Mardi Gras Film Festival in 2020 and was acquired by SBS On Demand.
You can find their new novel, A Language of Limbs under their new author Goodreads profile - Dylin Hardcastle
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 459 reviews
April 2, 2020
A powerful story that will resonate with a lot of women.
Here's the plot:
Before - Oli wakes on a boat with no memory of how she got there. It leads to a lifetime friendship and a love of being on the sea.
Then - A few years later, she takes a job on a boat with five guys which is naturally a recipe for disaster so things go badly for her.
After - Now she has to deal with the consequences.
That's just a summary of the blurb, but it's also the entire story. The novel is divided into three parts and each is richly detailed with colours and descriptions. The language is beautiful and the colours add a vivid quality to a story that's actually pretty dark.
My heart was aching for Olivia from the very beginning, so I was really glad to meet Mac straight up, who was such a loving, warm sort of character. Aside from him and Maggie, it's hard to really love anyone in this story. The rest are either jerks or kept at a distance from Oli and what she's going through.
What's she going through? Trauma.
I don't even know how to properly explain how much I loved the way this was addressed. It's not a black and white incident, and Oli has a lot of thoughts that I think many victims of assault may understand. There are layers to her feelings and it really broke my heart reading it. At the same time, I think this is a really important novel to help explain to people with no experience of sexual assault just how cloudy everything can become. It's a painful story, but necessary.
There are no great action sequences, or adventures, or even that much depth to Oli's background and life. It's mostly a snapshot of one incident, and how it ripples through her life. It's words and images and colours and feelings and is moving and lyrical and emotional. It will make you feel. I really felt this story in my soul.
I do want to talk about the ending, though.
It's a lyrical novel that uses language to convey feeling and depth to a story that you need to be emotionally connected to. If you don't feel for Oli, you're gonna have a bad time. I honestly could not care less about all the boat stuff but I was so appreciative of the way her story was told. I'm rating this higher than I normally do literary fiction because of how much I connected to her story.
If you're after a fast pace, this won't be for you. If your preference is for beautiful words and themes that will have you feeling deeper emotions, this is spot on. If you've experienced trauma, this may be a tough read but it will also make you feel heard and hopefully empower you. I hope you find some meaning in it.
Honestly I'm not a hugger but this book makes me want to hug all women who have ever been through an experience like this. I feel for you, ladies. Your pain is acknowledged. You are loved.
Stay strong.
Breathe.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin for an ARC
Here's the plot:
Before - Oli wakes on a boat with no memory of how she got there. It leads to a lifetime friendship and a love of being on the sea.
Then - A few years later, she takes a job on a boat with five guys which is naturally a recipe for disaster so things go badly for her.
After - Now she has to deal with the consequences.
That's just a summary of the blurb, but it's also the entire story. The novel is divided into three parts and each is richly detailed with colours and descriptions. The language is beautiful and the colours add a vivid quality to a story that's actually pretty dark.
My heart was aching for Olivia from the very beginning, so I was really glad to meet Mac straight up, who was such a loving, warm sort of character. Aside from him and Maggie, it's hard to really love anyone in this story. The rest are either jerks or kept at a distance from Oli and what she's going through.
What's she going through? Trauma.
I don't even know how to properly explain how much I loved the way this was addressed. It's not a black and white incident, and Oli has a lot of thoughts that I think many victims of assault may understand. There are layers to her feelings and it really broke my heart reading it. At the same time, I think this is a really important novel to help explain to people with no experience of sexual assault just how cloudy everything can become. It's a painful story, but necessary.
There are no great action sequences, or adventures, or even that much depth to Oli's background and life. It's mostly a snapshot of one incident, and how it ripples through her life. It's words and images and colours and feelings and is moving and lyrical and emotional. It will make you feel. I really felt this story in my soul.
I do want to talk about the ending, though.
It's a lyrical novel that uses language to convey feeling and depth to a story that you need to be emotionally connected to. If you don't feel for Oli, you're gonna have a bad time. I honestly could not care less about all the boat stuff but I was so appreciative of the way her story was told. I'm rating this higher than I normally do literary fiction because of how much I connected to her story.
If you're after a fast pace, this won't be for you. If your preference is for beautiful words and themes that will have you feeling deeper emotions, this is spot on. If you've experienced trauma, this may be a tough read but it will also make you feel heard and hopefully empower you. I hope you find some meaning in it.
Honestly I'm not a hugger but this book makes me want to hug all women who have ever been through an experience like this. I feel for you, ladies. Your pain is acknowledged. You are loved.
Stay strong.
Breathe.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin for an ARC
April 25, 2020
Below Deck is a confronting story with haunting moments.
Oliva (Oli) is our protagonist who hears the world and feels emotions in colour. She becomes a sailor and then an Art Curator.
The story begins when Oli is in her early twenties and finds herself on Mac’s yacht not knowing how she on earth she got there. Mac changes the course of her life, they form a firm friendship and he teaches her how to sail. Mac introduces Oli to Maggie and the older couple and Oli sail the Coral Sea together.
Some years later Oli as a sailor is injured in an accident onboard a yacht with an all male crew who refuse to turn the boat back. She then becomes a victim of sexual violence and is treated like dirt by the crew who banish her into a dinghy dragged behind the boat.
Men in her life and this devastating experience damages Oli and a voyage later down the track to the Southern Ocean allows her to heal and recover.
A book about relationships both good and toxic! An interesting read.
I wish to thank Good Reading Magazine and Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to win a copy of this book
Oliva (Oli) is our protagonist who hears the world and feels emotions in colour. She becomes a sailor and then an Art Curator.
The story begins when Oli is in her early twenties and finds herself on Mac’s yacht not knowing how she on earth she got there. Mac changes the course of her life, they form a firm friendship and he teaches her how to sail. Mac introduces Oli to Maggie and the older couple and Oli sail the Coral Sea together.
Some years later Oli as a sailor is injured in an accident onboard a yacht with an all male crew who refuse to turn the boat back. She then becomes a victim of sexual violence and is treated like dirt by the crew who banish her into a dinghy dragged behind the boat.
Men in her life and this devastating experience damages Oli and a voyage later down the track to the Southern Ocean allows her to heal and recover.
A book about relationships both good and toxic! An interesting read.
I wish to thank Good Reading Magazine and Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to win a copy of this book
October 1, 2025
This was a remarkable debut holding onto many dark themes. As a trigger warning there are abuse scenes in this book. Oli is floundering and of all places finds her true home on the sea. She's not close with her parents, they aren't a nice couple to have as parents. She is alone in the world at a time in her life that she should be becoming a part of the world. She does find two beautiful people who show her family need not be related by blood and these lovely characters lead her to the ocean.
Learning the ocean from Mac and Maggie, she begins to think in terms of the water and the multitude of colours it represents. The language is lush and vibrant, the ocean becoming colours and metaphors to describe her being and her life. Oli is strong, learning the way of the ocean and running a yacht and more than holding her own among a group of men, I loved that she knew more.
What transpires is tragic and murky, the prose of this awful event always deep and immensely heavy, not straying away from an awfulness beyond measure. Oli moves on with her life, always having her mentors close to her heart if not in a physical presence. This is a heavy book, sometimes the miscommunication between two loving souls in a story makes me sad as things aren't always meant to be, but these swings and roundabouts in a novel will always make me reflect deeply.
An excellent debut, probably a tad too heavy at this time in my life, so five stars had this not been the case. So this is reflective of the reader's experience this time around.
I listened to this via the BorrowBox app and my public library.
Learning the ocean from Mac and Maggie, she begins to think in terms of the water and the multitude of colours it represents. The language is lush and vibrant, the ocean becoming colours and metaphors to describe her being and her life. Oli is strong, learning the way of the ocean and running a yacht and more than holding her own among a group of men, I loved that she knew more.
What transpires is tragic and murky, the prose of this awful event always deep and immensely heavy, not straying away from an awfulness beyond measure. Oli moves on with her life, always having her mentors close to her heart if not in a physical presence. This is a heavy book, sometimes the miscommunication between two loving souls in a story makes me sad as things aren't always meant to be, but these swings and roundabouts in a novel will always make me reflect deeply.
An excellent debut, probably a tad too heavy at this time in my life, so five stars had this not been the case. So this is reflective of the reader's experience this time around.
I listened to this via the BorrowBox app and my public library.
April 1, 2020
I found the boating and cruising along the Australian coast soothing and comforting, I related quite well to this first quarter of the book. Even the colours, which would normally find my eyes rolling so much they would roll right out of their sockets. Anyway, two stars for this.
Spoiler alert for the rest of my thoughts below...
God, I feel so grumpy. Sorry Sophie!
Spoiler alert for the rest of my thoughts below...
God, I feel so grumpy. Sorry Sophie!
May 20, 2021
Ein starkes und berührendes Buch. Themen wie Feminismus, Diversität, Naturschutz und unbearbeitete Traumata begleiten die gesamte Geschichte.
Olivia ist gefangen in einer toxischen Beziehung und bricht aus allen Erwartungen die u.a. ihre Eltern an sie stellen aus und entscheidet sich gegen einen sicheren Job und für ein Leben auf dem Meer. Sie begegnet wunderbaren Menschen, die ihr zur Seite stehen und sie in ihren Entscheidungen unterstützen. Aber unter der Oberfläche brodelt es.. denn nicht alle meinen es gut mit Olivia.
Das Ende des Buches hat mir besonders gut gefallen, wird die Sprache dort noch mal lyrischer und poetischer, kommt uns die Natur noch mal ein großes Stück näher!
Ich möchte eine eindringliche Triggerwarnung geben aufgrund von sexueller Gewalt!
Olivia ist gefangen in einer toxischen Beziehung und bricht aus allen Erwartungen die u.a. ihre Eltern an sie stellen aus und entscheidet sich gegen einen sicheren Job und für ein Leben auf dem Meer. Sie begegnet wunderbaren Menschen, die ihr zur Seite stehen und sie in ihren Entscheidungen unterstützen. Aber unter der Oberfläche brodelt es.. denn nicht alle meinen es gut mit Olivia.
Das Ende des Buches hat mir besonders gut gefallen, wird die Sprache dort noch mal lyrischer und poetischer, kommt uns die Natur noch mal ein großes Stück näher!
Ich möchte eine eindringliche Triggerwarnung geben aufgrund von sexueller Gewalt!
March 23, 2020
“Each time I come up for breath, the hoop pines become more pronounced, their outlines sharper, their immensity more overwhelming, until I am standing in the shallows, gazing up at the towering trees. Wooded bodies stand one after another, like the mountainside is an amphitheatre for a green choir singing all kinds of unheard songs.”
Below Deck is the third novel by Australian author, Sophie Hardcastle. Olivia Winters is an economics graduate with excellent job prospects who would have preferred to study the arts. She’s intelligent, but at twenty-one, incredibly naïve, a little aimless and has recently buried the grumpy grandfather with whom she was living in Manly, a man who had never recovered from the loss of his wife. Oli’s parents, a dictatorial father and a socialite mother, are demanding but absent and unsupportive, and her boyfriend lacks empathy and generosity.
But when she meets Mac and then Maggie, her immediate connection to Maggie is augmented by a mutual love of art and the shared peculiarity of synaesthesia. Oli feels enveloped by love and care when she’s with Mac and Maggie, something sorely lacking in her parents’ guardianship. She clearly gets more guidance from these two virtual strangers on a sailing trip through the Coral Sea than she has had during her whole childhood.
If the first part of the story, sea garden, and third part, desert, have beautiful prose, warmth and quirky humour, joy and sadness, and if the final part, sea ice, describes healing and life affirmation, the second part, sea monsters, is likely to make many readers feel uncomfortable, with Oli’s poor choices quickly fostering a sense of dread at her possible fate, and her method of coping with her trauma (rationalising her rape into a choice she made) is unlikely to sit well with many. Parts of sea ice also feel a bit like an environmental lecture.
There will be times when Oli’s actions are so frustrating, the reader wants to grab and shake her. Is her weakness, her lack of self-respect, her easy devaluing of herself, explained by her mother’s example? It’s difficult to say, as the story is quite disjointed at times, with several vaguely-described years between the parts.
Many readers may find the explicit description of sexual assaults confronting, and Oli is not an easy character with whom to connect, even before she goes into denial of what is clearly PTSD. Mac and Maggie, Will and Oli’s London friends are more endearing. Oli’s synaesthesia does make for some evocative descriptions. An interesting and thought-provoking read that doesn’t quite reach its potential.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by Allen & Unwin.
Below Deck is the third novel by Australian author, Sophie Hardcastle. Olivia Winters is an economics graduate with excellent job prospects who would have preferred to study the arts. She’s intelligent, but at twenty-one, incredibly naïve, a little aimless and has recently buried the grumpy grandfather with whom she was living in Manly, a man who had never recovered from the loss of his wife. Oli’s parents, a dictatorial father and a socialite mother, are demanding but absent and unsupportive, and her boyfriend lacks empathy and generosity.
But when she meets Mac and then Maggie, her immediate connection to Maggie is augmented by a mutual love of art and the shared peculiarity of synaesthesia. Oli feels enveloped by love and care when she’s with Mac and Maggie, something sorely lacking in her parents’ guardianship. She clearly gets more guidance from these two virtual strangers on a sailing trip through the Coral Sea than she has had during her whole childhood.
If the first part of the story, sea garden, and third part, desert, have beautiful prose, warmth and quirky humour, joy and sadness, and if the final part, sea ice, describes healing and life affirmation, the second part, sea monsters, is likely to make many readers feel uncomfortable, with Oli’s poor choices quickly fostering a sense of dread at her possible fate, and her method of coping with her trauma (rationalising her rape into a choice she made) is unlikely to sit well with many. Parts of sea ice also feel a bit like an environmental lecture.
There will be times when Oli’s actions are so frustrating, the reader wants to grab and shake her. Is her weakness, her lack of self-respect, her easy devaluing of herself, explained by her mother’s example? It’s difficult to say, as the story is quite disjointed at times, with several vaguely-described years between the parts.
Many readers may find the explicit description of sexual assaults confronting, and Oli is not an easy character with whom to connect, even before she goes into denial of what is clearly PTSD. Mac and Maggie, Will and Oli’s London friends are more endearing. Oli’s synaesthesia does make for some evocative descriptions. An interesting and thought-provoking read that doesn’t quite reach its potential.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by Allen & Unwin.
March 15, 2020
This is a powerful story - about trauma, recovery and the awful ways that men treat women. The characters weren't always entirely convincing and the narrative arc felt a bit too neat for me, but this is a promising debut.
March 4, 2020
I feel like I read a different book to everyone else - I found the characterisation really underdeveloped - it moves through numerous characters and they don’t seem like real or rounded people, it virtue-signals through a lot of issues (weight-shaming, homosexuality, climate change, gender transitions), the ending was kind of trite and melodramatic and the whole thing was really difficult to believe.
For example, we are supposed to feel her deep sadness at the death of Maggie - a character she barely had a conversation with?
For example, we are supposed to feel her deep sadness at the death of Maggie - a character she barely had a conversation with?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2021
Vorab: Meine Rezension enthält kleinere Spoiler, ohne die ich meine vollen Gedankengänge zum Buch nicht in Worte fassen könnte. Wenn dir das nichts ausmacht, lies gerne weiter.
"Ich halte ihre Hand und stelle mir vor, auch wir wären Eisberge. Wir alle. Frauen, die zur Oberfläche drängen. Von denen man nur den kleinen Teil sieht, der über diese hinausragt. Doch darunter breiten wir uns aus. Beanspruchen mit Nachdruck unseren Platz." - Sophie Hardcastle, "Unter Deck"
Sophie Hardcastles Roman "Unter Deck" ist wie das Meer - mal wunderschön und faszinierend, mal unberechenbar und grausam. Die Autorin hat mit ihrem Buch in mir die verschiedensten Emotionen ausgelöst: Freude, Mitgefühl, Mut, Traurigkeit und vor allem auch Wut. Hinter diesem wirklich wunderschönen Cover steckt nämlich eine für mich sehr, sehr schwer verdauliche Geschichte.
Der Roman lässt sich gedanklich in drei Abschnitte einteilen. Im ersten Teil beginnt die Protagonistin Olivia, ihr Herz an das Meer und das Segeln zu verlieren. Sie trifft wundervolle Menschen, die sie lieben und gewinnt an Selbstbewusstsein und -sicherheit. Im zweiten Teil erlebt Oli Traumatisches: Sie geht auf einen Segeltörn mit fünf gleichaltrigen Männern, der sich in einen Albtraum verwandelt. Im dritten Teil begleiten wir die Protagonistin auf ihrem langen Weg der Genesung.
In den ersten und dritten Abschnitt habe ich mich verliebt - der zweite hat mich jedoch vollkommen unvorbereitet getroffen und extrem mitgenommen. Die Autorin beschreibt darin sehr detailliert (für mich zu detailliert) eine Vergewaltigung und Freiheitsberaubung. In meinen Augen hätte es bei diesen Szenen unbedingt einer Triggerwarnung bedarft, die leider vom Verlag nicht voran gestellt wurde, weshalb ich diese hier selbst aussprechen möchte. Ich bin beim Lesen tatsächlich an meine Grenzen gekommen.
Weshalb ich "Unter Deck" aber trotzdem empfehlen möchte: Der Schreibstil der Autorin ist wirklich einmalig. Sie kann unglaublich gut mit Worten umgehen und beschreibt vor allem das Meer und die Kunst, aber auch alles andere im Buch auf ganz besondere Weise. Außerdem hat mir diese Kraft, die von den Frauen im Roman ausgegangen ist, sehr gut gefallen, gerade auch im dritten Abschnitt, in dem Oli langsam mit ihrem Trauma zurecht kommt. Sie erhält so viel Unterstützung von den verschiedensten Frauen, das hat mich sehr inspiriert.
Ich kann also sagen, dass mir das Buch am Ende viel gegeben hat und ich es wirklich gut fand - ich rate aber dringend davon ab, es zu lesen, wenn du dich durch die oben genannten Themen getriggert fühlst!
"Ich halte ihre Hand und stelle mir vor, auch wir wären Eisberge. Wir alle. Frauen, die zur Oberfläche drängen. Von denen man nur den kleinen Teil sieht, der über diese hinausragt. Doch darunter breiten wir uns aus. Beanspruchen mit Nachdruck unseren Platz." - Sophie Hardcastle, "Unter Deck"
Sophie Hardcastles Roman "Unter Deck" ist wie das Meer - mal wunderschön und faszinierend, mal unberechenbar und grausam. Die Autorin hat mit ihrem Buch in mir die verschiedensten Emotionen ausgelöst: Freude, Mitgefühl, Mut, Traurigkeit und vor allem auch Wut. Hinter diesem wirklich wunderschönen Cover steckt nämlich eine für mich sehr, sehr schwer verdauliche Geschichte.
Der Roman lässt sich gedanklich in drei Abschnitte einteilen. Im ersten Teil beginnt die Protagonistin Olivia, ihr Herz an das Meer und das Segeln zu verlieren. Sie trifft wundervolle Menschen, die sie lieben und gewinnt an Selbstbewusstsein und -sicherheit. Im zweiten Teil erlebt Oli Traumatisches: Sie geht auf einen Segeltörn mit fünf gleichaltrigen Männern, der sich in einen Albtraum verwandelt. Im dritten Teil begleiten wir die Protagonistin auf ihrem langen Weg der Genesung.
In den ersten und dritten Abschnitt habe ich mich verliebt - der zweite hat mich jedoch vollkommen unvorbereitet getroffen und extrem mitgenommen. Die Autorin beschreibt darin sehr detailliert (für mich zu detailliert) eine Vergewaltigung und Freiheitsberaubung. In meinen Augen hätte es bei diesen Szenen unbedingt einer Triggerwarnung bedarft, die leider vom Verlag nicht voran gestellt wurde, weshalb ich diese hier selbst aussprechen möchte. Ich bin beim Lesen tatsächlich an meine Grenzen gekommen.
Weshalb ich "Unter Deck" aber trotzdem empfehlen möchte: Der Schreibstil der Autorin ist wirklich einmalig. Sie kann unglaublich gut mit Worten umgehen und beschreibt vor allem das Meer und die Kunst, aber auch alles andere im Buch auf ganz besondere Weise. Außerdem hat mir diese Kraft, die von den Frauen im Roman ausgegangen ist, sehr gut gefallen, gerade auch im dritten Abschnitt, in dem Oli langsam mit ihrem Trauma zurecht kommt. Sie erhält so viel Unterstützung von den verschiedensten Frauen, das hat mich sehr inspiriert.
Ich kann also sagen, dass mir das Buch am Ende viel gegeben hat und ich es wirklich gut fand - ich rate aber dringend davon ab, es zu lesen, wenn du dich durch die oben genannten Themen getriggert fühlst!
May 25, 2020
**May include spoilers**
I've been too long pondering on my thoughts about this book, so here in a nutshell is the best I can offer without [I hope] spoilers...though I do believe some forewarning should be mentioned regarding some graphically detailed incidents...not as a put off but rather to alert the reader to be mindful, as I would have preferred, rather than be so caught by surprise as I was.
I don't believe the cover blurb alluded to the fact that some sensitive issues may be included which might prove triggers for some readers.
That said..I really, really loved the writing and the way the author captured the details of the moment and turned them into beautiful vivid pictures, making the mood almost like a shared experience.
So with that in mind, you can safely assume that I was really caught off guard at the detailed descriptions of certain shocking incidents that I may have seen coming but, not the ferocity perhaps?
This is not meant as a discredit to the author as I must agree that [even so] the writing is very good and so evocative that it threw me off balance for a good while, thus testament to the ability of the author to evoke such an emotional reaction through the choice and arrangement of her words.
The writing is consistently detailed with an honest and credible storyline with an ever changing landscape, making it a real page turner.
I have no hesitation in recommending this book...with a warning.
I enjoyed it, I loathed it, I was moved by it, I was left in a state that is hard to explain, though that is not to say everyone will have the same experience.
One thing is for sure, this book will affect you.
My favorite quote:
"Or that life is a series of words and the punctuation is in all the wrong places and when you want to take a breath someone has removed the comma so you, have to take one there and if you didn't too bad it's already, gone."
4⭐️'s
I've been too long pondering on my thoughts about this book, so here in a nutshell is the best I can offer without [I hope] spoilers...though I do believe some forewarning should be mentioned regarding some graphically detailed incidents...not as a put off but rather to alert the reader to be mindful, as I would have preferred, rather than be so caught by surprise as I was.
I don't believe the cover blurb alluded to the fact that some sensitive issues may be included which might prove triggers for some readers.
That said..I really, really loved the writing and the way the author captured the details of the moment and turned them into beautiful vivid pictures, making the mood almost like a shared experience.
So with that in mind, you can safely assume that I was really caught off guard at the detailed descriptions of certain shocking incidents that I may have seen coming but, not the ferocity perhaps?
This is not meant as a discredit to the author as I must agree that [even so] the writing is very good and so evocative that it threw me off balance for a good while, thus testament to the ability of the author to evoke such an emotional reaction through the choice and arrangement of her words.
The writing is consistently detailed with an honest and credible storyline with an ever changing landscape, making it a real page turner.
I have no hesitation in recommending this book...with a warning.
I enjoyed it, I loathed it, I was moved by it, I was left in a state that is hard to explain, though that is not to say everyone will have the same experience.
One thing is for sure, this book will affect you.
My favorite quote:
"Or that life is a series of words and the punctuation is in all the wrong places and when you want to take a breath someone has removed the comma so you, have to take one there and if you didn't too bad it's already, gone."
4⭐️'s
March 17, 2020
Approaching the end of her Economics degree, 21yo Olivia is aimless. She's been offered an enviable internship, which everyone in her life expects her to take up, but when she meets senior sailors Mac and Maggie, she begins to see that life could hold so much more for her. A few years later, the grey of her university life in Sydney with her grieving grandfather has morphed into a world of colour for this young woman who happens to be synaesthetic. Life on the ocean has been transforming, giving Oli a worldliness that she very badly needed. But then, while on a yacht delivery to Auckland, all the colour disappears.
This story is told in four parts, and what I've outlined above covers the first two. The rest is about how Oli makes peace with herself and with the world around her.
I was really looking forward to reading this book, having previously been impressed with Hardcastle's YA offering, Breathing Under Water. While I enjoyed Below Deck, I didn't love it. I think I fell too hard for the hype and just wanted it to be more than it was. Also, I struggled to engage with Oli in the first section of the story (she seemed so much younger than the 21 year old women I know) and by the time she grew up, I probably still didn't care about her that much. Her synaesthesia was really interesting though - and it's a condition she shares with the author.
Below Deck is something a little bit different, and for that reason worth a read.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin for an uncorrected proof to read and review.
This story is told in four parts, and what I've outlined above covers the first two. The rest is about how Oli makes peace with herself and with the world around her.
I was really looking forward to reading this book, having previously been impressed with Hardcastle's YA offering, Breathing Under Water. While I enjoyed Below Deck, I didn't love it. I think I fell too hard for the hype and just wanted it to be more than it was. Also, I struggled to engage with Oli in the first section of the story (she seemed so much younger than the 21 year old women I know) and by the time she grew up, I probably still didn't care about her that much. Her synaesthesia was really interesting though - and it's a condition she shares with the author.
Below Deck is something a little bit different, and for that reason worth a read.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin for an uncorrected proof to read and review.
June 7, 2021
>>Wir alle tragen Narben mit uns herum. Aber eine Narbe bedeutet, dass unsere Verletzungen dabei sind, zu verheilen. Eine Narbe ist der Beweis, dass wir überlebt haben.<<
Im einen Moment fühlte Olivia sich zu Hause, aufgehoben in der Magie des Meeres, doch wo Licht ist, da ist auch Schatten und durch die grausame Dunkelheit wird sie gezogen und alles scheint unterzugehen... einfach alles... doch das Leben ist wie es ist... immer im Wandel, immer ein Lauf der Zeit...🌊
„Unter Deck“ von Sophie Hardcastle ist eines der bewegendsten Bücher, die ich in letzter Zeit gelesen habe. Unsere Protagonistin Olivia lässt im Verlauf der Geschichte so tief in ihre Seele blicken, dass es für mich schier spürbar war. Ich konnte ihren Schmerz fühlen, ihre Angst schmecken und durch diese enge Bindung, die sich immer mehr im Verlauf des Lesens aufgebaut hat, wurde ihr Innenleben so so greifbar! Verknüpft hat die Autorin diese tiefe Seelen-Geschichte mit ganz wundervollen und so passenden Naturbeschreibungen, Orten und Tätigkeiten, dass es für mich zu einer ganz besonderen Symbiose geworden ist.
>>Es ist eine Melodie, der Ruf des Ozeans. Meine Melodie schwillt an und nimmt wieder ab...<<
Fazit: Für mich ist dieses Buch eines, das noch lange nachhallen wird und definitiv zu meinen Jahreshighlights- wenn nicht sogar zu meinen Lebenslesehighlights gehört💖📖
Im einen Moment fühlte Olivia sich zu Hause, aufgehoben in der Magie des Meeres, doch wo Licht ist, da ist auch Schatten und durch die grausame Dunkelheit wird sie gezogen und alles scheint unterzugehen... einfach alles... doch das Leben ist wie es ist... immer im Wandel, immer ein Lauf der Zeit...🌊
„Unter Deck“ von Sophie Hardcastle ist eines der bewegendsten Bücher, die ich in letzter Zeit gelesen habe. Unsere Protagonistin Olivia lässt im Verlauf der Geschichte so tief in ihre Seele blicken, dass es für mich schier spürbar war. Ich konnte ihren Schmerz fühlen, ihre Angst schmecken und durch diese enge Bindung, die sich immer mehr im Verlauf des Lesens aufgebaut hat, wurde ihr Innenleben so so greifbar! Verknüpft hat die Autorin diese tiefe Seelen-Geschichte mit ganz wundervollen und so passenden Naturbeschreibungen, Orten und Tätigkeiten, dass es für mich zu einer ganz besonderen Symbiose geworden ist.
>>Es ist eine Melodie, der Ruf des Ozeans. Meine Melodie schwillt an und nimmt wieder ab...<<
Fazit: Für mich ist dieses Buch eines, das noch lange nachhallen wird und definitiv zu meinen Jahreshighlights- wenn nicht sogar zu meinen Lebenslesehighlights gehört💖📖
March 24, 2020
Olivia is adrift. She comes from a family in which she feels unloved and has an unhealthy relationship with her boyfriend who seems to see her as an accessory rather than a partner. After an argument she passes out on a boat and wakes up to meet its owner 'Mac'.
The story that follows is Olivia's journey through grief, terror and finding out who she really is.
This is a a book about relationships, good and bad. It is told with warmth and humour, and at times hard, ugly facts. The writing style is beautiful and eloquent. A lovely story about some very difficult topics.
Thank you Allen & Unwin for the paperback ARC that I won. It was a pleasure to read.
The story that follows is Olivia's journey through grief, terror and finding out who she really is.
This is a a book about relationships, good and bad. It is told with warmth and humour, and at times hard, ugly facts. The writing style is beautiful and eloquent. A lovely story about some very difficult topics.
Thank you Allen & Unwin for the paperback ARC that I won. It was a pleasure to read.
April 23, 2020
It is was an effort to finish this. I felt like I must have read a different book to everyone because I found the first chunk of this book self-indulgent and melodramatic. I felt the book had a lot of pointless detail that made it feel like it was just filling pages.
I liked the ideas in the book but there were so many issues trickled in, which I think might have been the authors attempt to normalise diversity and present it as the way the world should be. But it felt scattered and disjointed. To me the main part of this book was about sexual assault/rape/trauma - but the book spoke about gender transitions, homosexuality stigma, climate change, death, family issues etc - each of these issues deserve their own book, not to be sprinkled into one.
I also think I don’t like this book because of the way it represented sexual trauma. I understand many women experience what Oli did and sit repressed most of their lives, but coupling that history of trauma with a ‘come to Jesus’ moment sailing in Antartica .... if that’s not self-indulgent I don’t know what is. Most women don’t get to heal like that, I wish this book showed a more relatable healing.
I like books that are relatable, but a young rich girl who has detached parents, gets raped, manages to be picked up and saved by seemingly beautiful characters (who don’t get enough development) and then to continue to fall on her feet in extraordinary ways - like getting her dream job in London, and going to flipping Antartica for free - is not relatable to me.
I totally admit that I am looking at this book from my lens and my history which is obviously how we all interpret books, but man I was happy when I finished this.
I liked the ideas in the book but there were so many issues trickled in, which I think might have been the authors attempt to normalise diversity and present it as the way the world should be. But it felt scattered and disjointed. To me the main part of this book was about sexual assault/rape/trauma - but the book spoke about gender transitions, homosexuality stigma, climate change, death, family issues etc - each of these issues deserve their own book, not to be sprinkled into one.
I also think I don’t like this book because of the way it represented sexual trauma. I understand many women experience what Oli did and sit repressed most of their lives, but coupling that history of trauma with a ‘come to Jesus’ moment sailing in Antartica .... if that’s not self-indulgent I don’t know what is. Most women don’t get to heal like that, I wish this book showed a more relatable healing.
I like books that are relatable, but a young rich girl who has detached parents, gets raped, manages to be picked up and saved by seemingly beautiful characters (who don’t get enough development) and then to continue to fall on her feet in extraordinary ways - like getting her dream job in London, and going to flipping Antartica for free - is not relatable to me.
I totally admit that I am looking at this book from my lens and my history which is obviously how we all interpret books, but man I was happy when I finished this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 19, 2021
Opowieść o przemocy, które nie cichnie z biegiem lat, o ciele, które pamięta i o kobiecie, która krzyczy, chociaż nikt nie słyszy jej krzyku – „Pod pokładem” Sophie Hardcastle.
Ostrzegam, że tematyka jest mocna i warto do książki podchodzić ostrożnie, ze świadomością, że jest to opowieść o przemocy seksualnej.
Zachwycające, jak można pisać o morzu, o oceanie, o wodzie, gdy pisze się nie tylko o podróży jako takiej, nie tylko o emocjach codzienności, ale też o barwach i strukturach, które towarzyszą człowiekowi. Bohaterka „Pod pokładem” jest synestetyczką, a to znaczy, że jej zmysły reagują nieco odmiennie – intensywniej, czasami radośniej, czasami boleśniej. I o tym bólu, o tych wybuchach czerwieni, opowiada Sophie Hardcastle. O brutalnym, niewytłumaczalnym doświadczeniu, uniwersalnym dla tak wielu kobiet na świecie, które odsunięte w podświadomości wraca i nie chce odpuścić – niszczy wszystko na swojej drodze, niszczy bohaterkę i jej tak barwne do tej pory życie. Chociaż jej umysł pragnie zapomnieć, to ciało pamięta i nic tego nie zmieni.
Powieść Sophie Hardcastle zachwyca wnikliwością i delikatnością – nie każdy potrafiłby opisywać tak dojmujące doświadczenia językiem poezji i sztuki. To ważna książka, bo nie boi się zadawać niejednoznacznych pytań. „Pod pokładem” jest hipnotyzująca, pociągająca, ale też boleśnie intensywna w prawdziwość emocji. Morska i kobieca. Piękna literatura piękna. Po prostu.
Ostrzegam, że tematyka jest mocna i warto do książki podchodzić ostrożnie, ze świadomością, że jest to opowieść o przemocy seksualnej.
Zachwycające, jak można pisać o morzu, o oceanie, o wodzie, gdy pisze się nie tylko o podróży jako takiej, nie tylko o emocjach codzienności, ale też o barwach i strukturach, które towarzyszą człowiekowi. Bohaterka „Pod pokładem” jest synestetyczką, a to znaczy, że jej zmysły reagują nieco odmiennie – intensywniej, czasami radośniej, czasami boleśniej. I o tym bólu, o tych wybuchach czerwieni, opowiada Sophie Hardcastle. O brutalnym, niewytłumaczalnym doświadczeniu, uniwersalnym dla tak wielu kobiet na świecie, które odsunięte w podświadomości wraca i nie chce odpuścić – niszczy wszystko na swojej drodze, niszczy bohaterkę i jej tak barwne do tej pory życie. Chociaż jej umysł pragnie zapomnieć, to ciało pamięta i nic tego nie zmieni.
Powieść Sophie Hardcastle zachwyca wnikliwością i delikatnością – nie każdy potrafiłby opisywać tak dojmujące doświadczenia językiem poezji i sztuki. To ważna książka, bo nie boi się zadawać niejednoznacznych pytań. „Pod pokładem” jest hipnotyzująca, pociągająca, ale też boleśnie intensywna w prawdziwość emocji. Morska i kobieca. Piękna literatura piękna. Po prostu.
September 5, 2021
4.25/5. The original blurb suggested a romantic story line. It has since been rewritten to better reflect the type of book this is. The romance with Hugo was only a small component of the plot which was okay with me. I was immediately blown away by the stunning lyrical prose, lulled in by the promise of a gentle story of self-discovery and perhaps a bit of romance, but then the author ambushed me with an abrupt change in the direction of the narrative. There is a major trigger in this book and the story became one of surviving and overcoming trauma, and ultimately, female empowerment. But then there's that ending. I listened to it a few times. I reread it a few more times and also the beginning again to try to make sense of it. I can't make sense of it. I just don't understand. Why?
It is no light and fluffy romance. There are moments of great beauty juxtaposing with graphically described horror. It's raw and painful. It's haunting. Maybe, that's why. The author wants the last few words to linger in our minds long after the sound of those words have died away.
Stunning narration.
I hold my breath. Do we choose to breathe?
I don't know. I still don't know. I wish you'd told me the answer. I wish you'd told me a lot of things.
Like that when I finally see the green flash, it will be equally amazing and dull.
Or that life is a series of words and the punctuation is in all the wrong places and when you want to take a breath, someone has removed the comma so you, have to take one there and if you didn't, too bad it's already, gone.
It is no light and fluffy romance. There are moments of great beauty juxtaposing with graphically described horror. It's raw and painful. It's haunting. Maybe, that's why. The author wants the last few words to linger in our minds long after the sound of those words have died away.
Stunning narration.
I hold my breath. Do we choose to breathe?
I don't know. I still don't know. I wish you'd told me the answer. I wish you'd told me a lot of things.
Like that when I finally see the green flash, it will be equally amazing and dull.
Or that life is a series of words and the punctuation is in all the wrong places and when you want to take a breath, someone has removed the comma so you, have to take one there and if you didn't, too bad it's already, gone.
May 10, 2021
3.5 podciągnięte do 4.
Całkiem przyjemna opowieść o nieprzyjemnych doświadczeniach, które nawet jeśli umysł próbuje zapomnieć to pozostają w pamięci ciała i dają o sobie znać w niewłaściwych momentach.
'Pod pokładem' to niegłupie czytadło, które wciąga i oferuje trochę więcej niż namiętne połykanie kolejnych stron. Podejmuje temat przemocy wobec kobiet, z całą podłością przykrytą zalotami i uprzejmością. Miejscami odrzuca bezpośredniością i okrucieństwem typowo zorientowanym na kobietę, ale buduje tym zrozumienie wobec bohaterki, z którą nietrudno się zżyć. Plus: znaczna część powieści dzieje się morzu, a autorce całkiem nieźle udało się oddać klimat zamknięcia, izolacji, ograniczonej przestrzeni statku.
O traumie, solidarności kobiet, potrzebie przepracowania doświadczeń, sile natury i pamięci. O dyskryminacji płciowej i jej konsekwencjach. Powieść 'Pod pokładem' nie jest wolna od sztampowych motywów i uproszczeń, ale spędziłam z nią dwa bardzo przyjemne wieczory, podczas których mogłam się wyłączyć i nie myśleć zbyt dużo, po prostu oddając się dość prostej, acz satysfakcjonującej rozrywkowo lekturze.
Całkiem przyjemna opowieść o nieprzyjemnych doświadczeniach, które nawet jeśli umysł próbuje zapomnieć to pozostają w pamięci ciała i dają o sobie znać w niewłaściwych momentach.
'Pod pokładem' to niegłupie czytadło, które wciąga i oferuje trochę więcej niż namiętne połykanie kolejnych stron. Podejmuje temat przemocy wobec kobiet, z całą podłością przykrytą zalotami i uprzejmością. Miejscami odrzuca bezpośredniością i okrucieństwem typowo zorientowanym na kobietę, ale buduje tym zrozumienie wobec bohaterki, z którą nietrudno się zżyć. Plus: znaczna część powieści dzieje się morzu, a autorce całkiem nieźle udało się oddać klimat zamknięcia, izolacji, ograniczonej przestrzeni statku.
O traumie, solidarności kobiet, potrzebie przepracowania doświadczeń, sile natury i pamięci. O dyskryminacji płciowej i jej konsekwencjach. Powieść 'Pod pokładem' nie jest wolna od sztampowych motywów i uproszczeń, ale spędziłam z nią dwa bardzo przyjemne wieczory, podczas których mogłam się wyłączyć i nie myśleć zbyt dużo, po prostu oddając się dość prostej, acz satysfakcjonującej rozrywkowo lekturze.
July 11, 2023
3,5 Sterne. Ein gelungenes Buch, das sich, trotz der schweren Thematik schnell lesen ließ und mich immer bei der Stange hielt. Wir haben es hier mit einer schwierigen Protagonistin zu tun, die mir zeitweise ziemlich auf die Nerven ging, anstrengend und naiv war. Auf der Zielgeraden hat die Autorin dann ein bisschen zu viel von allem in die letzten Seiten gepresst, was meiner Meinung nach ganz viel Flair genommen hat.
March 16, 2020
Below Deck is a powerful tale of love, loss, trauma and the sea. We follow Oli as she breaks away from her father's expectations and forges her own path, finding both joy and devastation in the process. Readers should note triggers for rape, emotional and physical abuse.
Oli is a twenty-one year old Australian from a well-off family, who experiences synaesthesia. Her father pressured her into studying economics and taking up a highly competitive corporate internship, but she resists and sets her own course after a drunken night out leaves her, surprisingly, on a boat - where the novel begins. We follow Oli in three parts - discovering her new path at sea, following it towards trauma, and then finding a way to reclaim her body and identity.
Hardcastle explores a wide range of themes, including the idea of choice and free will, which she introduces through the recurring motif of questioning our choice to breathe. I was lucky enough to hear her speak on her book tour, and she commented, "I kept coming back to the idea of breathing - do we choose to breathe, or is it just something that happens to us?" This is a salient question for Oli, who makes a choice that we as readers are unsure is really a choice. The regular refrain recalls this "choice" and leaves us questioning our own agency.
She also spoke about exploring the idea of disgust - the way men are socialised to be disgusted by the nature of women's bodies (especially menstruation). The physical experience of being a young women is portrayed in an achingly realistic fashion, particularly the various forms of shame imposed on women about their bodies.
Speaking to Hardcastle after the talk, she told me she wanted the novel to be about climate change more so than surviving sexual violence, and this is evident, especially in the third section when Oli journeys to Antarctica. This section contrasts Oli's self-discovery and healing with the long-term injury of the earth - reminding us of our insignificance, but also empowering us to make the most of our fleeting lives.
One of the greatest joys of this story is the wonderful bond between Oli and Maggie, an older woman who also experiences synaesthesia, and whose life revolves around art. Their connection, and the way Maggie lifts Oli up and opens doors for her, is a demonstration of the best sort of feminism, and brings great emotional depth to the story.
Despite the moments of darkness and confronting scenes, this is an incredibly readable novel. Hardcastle's style is easy to fall into, and flows with apparent effortlessness (although she has clearly applied her skilled craft to achieve this effect). I gulped this tale down, finishing around 80 per cent on a reasonably short flight, my heart full of wonder and fear and anger and joy. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of feelings and places and sounds through colour - Hardcastle drawing on her own synaesthesia for the palate of Oli's perception. This is beautifully reflected in the chapter titles too, which helped me paint my own visual map of the story.
Ultimately, this is a story of empowerment - as Hardcastle describes the novel, "I want it to be a book about hope, and how the body is reclaimed." She has undoubtedly achieved her aim.
I received a copy of Below Deck from Allen and Unwin in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Oli is a twenty-one year old Australian from a well-off family, who experiences synaesthesia. Her father pressured her into studying economics and taking up a highly competitive corporate internship, but she resists and sets her own course after a drunken night out leaves her, surprisingly, on a boat - where the novel begins. We follow Oli in three parts - discovering her new path at sea, following it towards trauma, and then finding a way to reclaim her body and identity.
Hardcastle explores a wide range of themes, including the idea of choice and free will, which she introduces through the recurring motif of questioning our choice to breathe. I was lucky enough to hear her speak on her book tour, and she commented, "I kept coming back to the idea of breathing - do we choose to breathe, or is it just something that happens to us?" This is a salient question for Oli, who makes a choice that we as readers are unsure is really a choice. The regular refrain recalls this "choice" and leaves us questioning our own agency.
She also spoke about exploring the idea of disgust - the way men are socialised to be disgusted by the nature of women's bodies (especially menstruation). The physical experience of being a young women is portrayed in an achingly realistic fashion, particularly the various forms of shame imposed on women about their bodies.
Speaking to Hardcastle after the talk, she told me she wanted the novel to be about climate change more so than surviving sexual violence, and this is evident, especially in the third section when Oli journeys to Antarctica. This section contrasts Oli's self-discovery and healing with the long-term injury of the earth - reminding us of our insignificance, but also empowering us to make the most of our fleeting lives.
One of the greatest joys of this story is the wonderful bond between Oli and Maggie, an older woman who also experiences synaesthesia, and whose life revolves around art. Their connection, and the way Maggie lifts Oli up and opens doors for her, is a demonstration of the best sort of feminism, and brings great emotional depth to the story.
Despite the moments of darkness and confronting scenes, this is an incredibly readable novel. Hardcastle's style is easy to fall into, and flows with apparent effortlessness (although she has clearly applied her skilled craft to achieve this effect). I gulped this tale down, finishing around 80 per cent on a reasonably short flight, my heart full of wonder and fear and anger and joy. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of feelings and places and sounds through colour - Hardcastle drawing on her own synaesthesia for the palate of Oli's perception. This is beautifully reflected in the chapter titles too, which helped me paint my own visual map of the story.
Ultimately, this is a story of empowerment - as Hardcastle describes the novel, "I want it to be a book about hope, and how the body is reclaimed." She has undoubtedly achieved her aim.
I received a copy of Below Deck from Allen and Unwin in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
September 2, 2023
Opis tej książki to właściwie jej streszczenie, dzięki temu sporo traci na wartości.
Książka składa się z trzech aktów z życia pewnej dziewczyny, wszystko co się dzieje pomiędzy zostaje w tak zwanej dziurze fabularnej, trzeci akt opiera się właściwie tylko o niedopowiedzenia. Tej książce nie brakło wiele żeby być naprawdę dobrą pozycją, trzeba by było ją skrócić, wywalić wszystkie niepotrzebne szczegóły, opisy nieważnych rzeczy, sztywne dialogi, sama się sobie dziwię, że uważam, ze krótsza forma sprawdziłaby się lepiej niż dłuższa.
Największą wartością tej książki jest pokazanie, że złe doświadczenia potrafią siedzieć w człowieku latami, powoli wysysać z niego życie, doprowadzać do szaleństwa i nie zawsze łatwo jest nazywać rzeczy po imieniu, konfrontować się z rzeczywistością, a proces zdrowienia nie zawsze jest możliwy. Książka o doświadczeniu złamanego życia.
Wiele rzeczy nie jest napisane wprost, czyta się między wierszami. Nie jest to jakaś wybitna literatura, zwłaszcza pod względem językowym, ale pozwoliła mi coś przeżyć, poruszyła mnie i to mnie satysfakcjonuje.
Książka składa się z trzech aktów z życia pewnej dziewczyny, wszystko co się dzieje pomiędzy zostaje w tak zwanej dziurze fabularnej, trzeci akt opiera się właściwie tylko o niedopowiedzenia. Tej książce nie brakło wiele żeby być naprawdę dobrą pozycją, trzeba by było ją skrócić, wywalić wszystkie niepotrzebne szczegóły, opisy nieważnych rzeczy, sztywne dialogi, sama się sobie dziwię, że uważam, ze krótsza forma sprawdziłaby się lepiej niż dłuższa.
Największą wartością tej książki jest pokazanie, że złe doświadczenia potrafią siedzieć w człowieku latami, powoli wysysać z niego życie, doprowadzać do szaleństwa i nie zawsze łatwo jest nazywać rzeczy po imieniu, konfrontować się z rzeczywistością, a proces zdrowienia nie zawsze jest możliwy. Książka o doświadczeniu złamanego życia.
Wiele rzeczy nie jest napisane wprost, czyta się między wierszami. Nie jest to jakaś wybitna literatura, zwłaszcza pod względem językowym, ale pozwoliła mi coś przeżyć, poruszyła mnie i to mnie satysfakcjonuje.
April 19, 2020
*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
We choose to breathe, I think. And suddenly it’s all dark salt, a neck of black pearls. This story begins here , at the end of the earth. Here, where silence is thick like a muscle, a body ancient and strong. And then it fractures, a cliff face breaking off, dissolving into the sea.’
Sophie Hardcastle’s Below Deck represents a startling rendition to the environment, with particular focus on the language of the sea. It is story of colour, darkness, silence, consent and pain. The author’s background as a scholar, screenwriter and artist, culminates in a poetic approach, regaling the complex life of the lead of this tale, Olivia.
Below Deck unfurls the story of Olivia or Oli, who is twenty one years old when this novel begins its powerful sojourn. When the audience is first acquainted with Oli, it is clear that the relationship Oli has with her family is entangled. Oli resides with her grandfather, a man who is deeply unhappy with the world. Oli is a woman with a special gift, she sees the world in colour, but of late everything seems to be bleak and grey. A fateful incident casts Oli in the path of two pivotal strangers, who become a big part of Oli’s world. In Mac and Maggie, Oli finds comfort and understanding. This couple opens Oli’s eyes to a different world. Oli takes a very different pathway than she expected and she embraces the ocean. The sea becomes a powerful tool in guiding her life direction. Four years down the track, Oli is a strong seafaring woman. She attains a lucrative position on board a yacht from Noumea, bound for Auckland. At first the posting seems like a dream, but the pressure of being the only female on board takes its toll. A terrible incident occurs on board, which changes Oli forever. Below Deck is a forceful story that bends its way into your heart and soul. It is an alarming tale, striking at the core of the silence and stigma surrounding women’s experiences of assault.
Following the release of Running Like China in 2015 and Breathing Under Water in 2016, Sophie Hardcastle presents 2020 release Below Deck. With an impressive academic resume, I was keen to taste this critically acclaimed author’s work through her new release, Below Deck. I found Below Deck to be a pulsating and incandescent read that habituated my mind, long after the final page had been turned.
Olivia or ‘Oli’ is the lead protagonist of Below Deck. Oli is a complicated soul. We are inside her head for the duration of the novel, which is defined by moments of despair, confusion, connection, love, disappointment, ambition and fear. Being a part of Oli’s life for the length of this novel was quite tumultuous. There were many emotions swirling inside of me and I felt bruised by my experience of Below Deck. It was poignant and scalding.
Hardcastle draws on her own personal experiences of synesthesia, which is the ability to see colour form and shape when stimulated. Hardcastle weaves in this unique world view into her book. Through the characters of both Oli and Maggie, we learn more about the ability both these women have to see the world through a colourful lens. This altered world view from what the layman would experience, enables Hardcastle to inject plenty of vitality, imagery, rhythm and poetry into her writing. I enjoyed the rolling pace of this novel, as well as the defined prose, it was an unusual form of writing. There were times when moments in this novel were silenced, or presented as ambiguous, which did perplex me a little.
The format Below Deck takes is episodic and the narrative diverts somewhat from a neat array. Rather, the reader is submerged in various pivotal moments of Oli’s life. Segregated into four parts, which are signposted as Sea Garden, Sea Monsters, Desert and Ice, the accompanying chapters within these segments are descriptively in tune with various colour tones. Travelling through moments of relationship breakdown, fateful connections, semblance, achievement, desire, despair, helplessness, silence, hurt, pain, love, confusion and recovery, there is a great deal thrust at the reader. I do need to issue a trigger warning for those who may find sexual assault sequences hard to approach. However, Hardcastle does draw out these aspects of the book with sensitivity.
With a latent focus on the environment, the ocean and climate change, which offsets Oli’s personal odyssey, Below Deck works as a literary voice for a number of resounding issues. It is a solemn at times, but it is also a considerate novel, that offers a heartbreaking insight into the impact of trauma and imposed silence.
*Thanks extended to Allen & Unwin for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.
Below Deck is book #45 of the 2020 Australian Women Writers Challenge
We choose to breathe, I think. And suddenly it’s all dark salt, a neck of black pearls. This story begins here , at the end of the earth. Here, where silence is thick like a muscle, a body ancient and strong. And then it fractures, a cliff face breaking off, dissolving into the sea.’
Sophie Hardcastle’s Below Deck represents a startling rendition to the environment, with particular focus on the language of the sea. It is story of colour, darkness, silence, consent and pain. The author’s background as a scholar, screenwriter and artist, culminates in a poetic approach, regaling the complex life of the lead of this tale, Olivia.
Below Deck unfurls the story of Olivia or Oli, who is twenty one years old when this novel begins its powerful sojourn. When the audience is first acquainted with Oli, it is clear that the relationship Oli has with her family is entangled. Oli resides with her grandfather, a man who is deeply unhappy with the world. Oli is a woman with a special gift, she sees the world in colour, but of late everything seems to be bleak and grey. A fateful incident casts Oli in the path of two pivotal strangers, who become a big part of Oli’s world. In Mac and Maggie, Oli finds comfort and understanding. This couple opens Oli’s eyes to a different world. Oli takes a very different pathway than she expected and she embraces the ocean. The sea becomes a powerful tool in guiding her life direction. Four years down the track, Oli is a strong seafaring woman. She attains a lucrative position on board a yacht from Noumea, bound for Auckland. At first the posting seems like a dream, but the pressure of being the only female on board takes its toll. A terrible incident occurs on board, which changes Oli forever. Below Deck is a forceful story that bends its way into your heart and soul. It is an alarming tale, striking at the core of the silence and stigma surrounding women’s experiences of assault.
Following the release of Running Like China in 2015 and Breathing Under Water in 2016, Sophie Hardcastle presents 2020 release Below Deck. With an impressive academic resume, I was keen to taste this critically acclaimed author’s work through her new release, Below Deck. I found Below Deck to be a pulsating and incandescent read that habituated my mind, long after the final page had been turned.
Olivia or ‘Oli’ is the lead protagonist of Below Deck. Oli is a complicated soul. We are inside her head for the duration of the novel, which is defined by moments of despair, confusion, connection, love, disappointment, ambition and fear. Being a part of Oli’s life for the length of this novel was quite tumultuous. There were many emotions swirling inside of me and I felt bruised by my experience of Below Deck. It was poignant and scalding.
Hardcastle draws on her own personal experiences of synesthesia, which is the ability to see colour form and shape when stimulated. Hardcastle weaves in this unique world view into her book. Through the characters of both Oli and Maggie, we learn more about the ability both these women have to see the world through a colourful lens. This altered world view from what the layman would experience, enables Hardcastle to inject plenty of vitality, imagery, rhythm and poetry into her writing. I enjoyed the rolling pace of this novel, as well as the defined prose, it was an unusual form of writing. There were times when moments in this novel were silenced, or presented as ambiguous, which did perplex me a little.
The format Below Deck takes is episodic and the narrative diverts somewhat from a neat array. Rather, the reader is submerged in various pivotal moments of Oli’s life. Segregated into four parts, which are signposted as Sea Garden, Sea Monsters, Desert and Ice, the accompanying chapters within these segments are descriptively in tune with various colour tones. Travelling through moments of relationship breakdown, fateful connections, semblance, achievement, desire, despair, helplessness, silence, hurt, pain, love, confusion and recovery, there is a great deal thrust at the reader. I do need to issue a trigger warning for those who may find sexual assault sequences hard to approach. However, Hardcastle does draw out these aspects of the book with sensitivity.
With a latent focus on the environment, the ocean and climate change, which offsets Oli’s personal odyssey, Below Deck works as a literary voice for a number of resounding issues. It is a solemn at times, but it is also a considerate novel, that offers a heartbreaking insight into the impact of trauma and imposed silence.
*Thanks extended to Allen & Unwin for providing a free copy of this book for review purposes.
Below Deck is book #45 of the 2020 Australian Women Writers Challenge
March 10, 2020
Below Deck is a beautifully written and haunting reflection on trauma, growing up, toxic relationships, and what it means to be a woman who silences herself. It's also a love letter to the earth, to the ocean, to the vastness of the world. Sophie is an evoactive writer - her words hum, her sentences are melodies, and the novel itself will leave you breathless. Do yourself a favour and pick this one up!
August 23, 2020
2.5 What started out as poetic and lyrical by the end became grating and annoying. Too much talk of colour not enough character development for me. I know I was supposed to feel sympathy and anger on behalf of the victim but her choices frustrated me and I couldn't identify with her at all.
Easy enough to read, the writing at times beautiful, but overall left me cold.
Easy enough to read, the writing at times beautiful, but overall left me cold.
March 26, 2021
Poetyckość, dorastanie, toksyczność, pasja, przemoc seksualna oraz kobiecość.
Jest to książka na pewno nie bez wad i nie dla każdego.
Jest to książka na pewno nie bez wad i nie dla każdego.
March 5, 2020
Author Sophie Hardcastle’s latest novel Below Deck (Allen and Unwin 2020) is a beautifully written meditation on feelings of trauma and love, narrated through a story of the meaning and shape of colours. The book is divided into four distinct sections, each representing a time in the protagonist Olivia’s life (her early, mid and late twenties) but although the plot proceeds in a fairly linear way, the language is absolutely literary, rhythmic, wondrous and compelling. At many points I wanted to hear the author herself read her words out loud; they are so powerful and haunting, so evocative and consuming. Every paragraph contains melancholy or hopeful or thought-provoking imagery that is completely engaging – tender, moving, frightening. This is an author unafraid to leave an absence for the unsaid; unafraid of silence. She never tells us too much but leaves space in our imagination for us to connect the dots and complete the story ourselves.
The first section is titled Sea Garden, with each chapter given the name of a flower eg Sea Orchid, Sea Frangipani, Sea Daisy, Sea Lily. We are introduced to 21-year-old Olivia (Oli) who has synaesthesia and hears the world in colour. But her own personal space is mostly grey – she is estranged from her parents and living with her grandfather, who is sad and lonely since the death of his wife.
She wakes up one day, tired and dishevelled, on a boat, going she knows not where. The old man at the helm could be friend or foe. But ultimately the circumstance leads to a lasting friendship with a much older couple, who introduce her to life on the sea and open her eyes to the beauty and wonder of the world. Maggie and Mac quite simply change her life. This comes at a time when she is struggling with the power imbalance in her relationship with her boyfriend and navigating her own sense of identity, of boundaries, of the dynamics of a healthy relationship. The undercurrent of jealousy and control simmers beneath her insecurities and her inability to assert herself. But then Maggie and Mac ‘wrap themselves around me, like rings of a tree, layer upon layer. So that I no longer feel exposed. I feel whole, and because their love doesn’t make me weak, I feel unbreakable.’
This marks the passage to the second part of the book, titled Sea Monsters, with chapters named after fish anatomy – Fish Blood, Fish Bone, Fish Guts, Fish Scales. We have skipped ahead four years, and Oli is now crewing on boats for a living. But when she takes a job aboard the Poseidon, as the only woman amongst five blokes, the narrative immediately changes key into a sinister and precarious scenario. Oli realises that she is stuck on the boat in the middle of the ocean and that ‘at sea [and particularly below deck] no one can hear you scream’. At the beginning of this section, we meet a much more confident and worldly Olivia than from four years previously, but by the end, she has started to come undone. The humiliation of being a powerless woman, bound by her body’s functioning, is all tied up with the issue of consent in a section that is a strong representation of what the #MeToo movement is all about. Readers may find this triggering or confronting. It is vivid, authentic, visceral and unforgettable.
In part three, Desert, every title is given the name of a coloured sand – Pale Blue Sand, Pink Sand, Gold Sand, White Sand. Depicting her later twenties, this section again skips ahead. Rather than beginning where we left off, the story starts again, and we are asked to guess or imagine much of what has gone on in the intervening period. Oli is now curating an art gallery; she has close friends and close relationships with people important to her. But underneath her apparently successful life is the ever-present trauma of her past. And when the two spill together, she is unable to reconcile the compartments of her life that she has kept separated and distinct, leaving herself open to wounding and hurt. She makes a decision that once again, changes her life, although it is not immediately apparent if it will be for better or for worse. And another tragedy forces her to reconsider her life plan.
The final section, Sea Ice, set in the coldest and most remote part of the world, includes chapters such as Cloud, Glacier and Snow. The time frame is closer to the prior section than previously, and details a life-changing decision that Oli makes, one that challenges her idea of her relationships with others, confronts her sense of herself, makes her question her own motivations and past actions, and forces her to examine her fears and the protective carapace she has built around herself. This is totally an ‘I am woman; hear me roar’ moment which brings together the entirety of the novel.
Below Deck asks some profound questions about the choices we make in life, the humiliations we are forced to endure, and how we are able – or not – to cope with those traumas. It celebrates the indomitability of the human spirit, particularly women, who are often burdened by unique difficulties, but who – it might be said – emerge stronger because of this, like a red-hot iron forged in the fire. Repeatedly throughout the book, Olivia asks ‘We choose to breathe, don’t we?’ and sometimes this is a question, sometimes a rhetorical question, sometimes an answer, sometimes a riddle and sometimes a lament. And all the way through, the vivid way of hearing and tasting and smelling colours provides an incomparable and pivotal lens through which Oli sees the world, and by which we understand her perspective. This is a courageous and brave book which seeks to amplify women’s voices through the trauma they face and the numerous ways they survive and thrive.
The first section is titled Sea Garden, with each chapter given the name of a flower eg Sea Orchid, Sea Frangipani, Sea Daisy, Sea Lily. We are introduced to 21-year-old Olivia (Oli) who has synaesthesia and hears the world in colour. But her own personal space is mostly grey – she is estranged from her parents and living with her grandfather, who is sad and lonely since the death of his wife.
She wakes up one day, tired and dishevelled, on a boat, going she knows not where. The old man at the helm could be friend or foe. But ultimately the circumstance leads to a lasting friendship with a much older couple, who introduce her to life on the sea and open her eyes to the beauty and wonder of the world. Maggie and Mac quite simply change her life. This comes at a time when she is struggling with the power imbalance in her relationship with her boyfriend and navigating her own sense of identity, of boundaries, of the dynamics of a healthy relationship. The undercurrent of jealousy and control simmers beneath her insecurities and her inability to assert herself. But then Maggie and Mac ‘wrap themselves around me, like rings of a tree, layer upon layer. So that I no longer feel exposed. I feel whole, and because their love doesn’t make me weak, I feel unbreakable.’
This marks the passage to the second part of the book, titled Sea Monsters, with chapters named after fish anatomy – Fish Blood, Fish Bone, Fish Guts, Fish Scales. We have skipped ahead four years, and Oli is now crewing on boats for a living. But when she takes a job aboard the Poseidon, as the only woman amongst five blokes, the narrative immediately changes key into a sinister and precarious scenario. Oli realises that she is stuck on the boat in the middle of the ocean and that ‘at sea [and particularly below deck] no one can hear you scream’. At the beginning of this section, we meet a much more confident and worldly Olivia than from four years previously, but by the end, she has started to come undone. The humiliation of being a powerless woman, bound by her body’s functioning, is all tied up with the issue of consent in a section that is a strong representation of what the #MeToo movement is all about. Readers may find this triggering or confronting. It is vivid, authentic, visceral and unforgettable.
In part three, Desert, every title is given the name of a coloured sand – Pale Blue Sand, Pink Sand, Gold Sand, White Sand. Depicting her later twenties, this section again skips ahead. Rather than beginning where we left off, the story starts again, and we are asked to guess or imagine much of what has gone on in the intervening period. Oli is now curating an art gallery; she has close friends and close relationships with people important to her. But underneath her apparently successful life is the ever-present trauma of her past. And when the two spill together, she is unable to reconcile the compartments of her life that she has kept separated and distinct, leaving herself open to wounding and hurt. She makes a decision that once again, changes her life, although it is not immediately apparent if it will be for better or for worse. And another tragedy forces her to reconsider her life plan.
The final section, Sea Ice, set in the coldest and most remote part of the world, includes chapters such as Cloud, Glacier and Snow. The time frame is closer to the prior section than previously, and details a life-changing decision that Oli makes, one that challenges her idea of her relationships with others, confronts her sense of herself, makes her question her own motivations and past actions, and forces her to examine her fears and the protective carapace she has built around herself. This is totally an ‘I am woman; hear me roar’ moment which brings together the entirety of the novel.
Below Deck asks some profound questions about the choices we make in life, the humiliations we are forced to endure, and how we are able – or not – to cope with those traumas. It celebrates the indomitability of the human spirit, particularly women, who are often burdened by unique difficulties, but who – it might be said – emerge stronger because of this, like a red-hot iron forged in the fire. Repeatedly throughout the book, Olivia asks ‘We choose to breathe, don’t we?’ and sometimes this is a question, sometimes a rhetorical question, sometimes an answer, sometimes a riddle and sometimes a lament. And all the way through, the vivid way of hearing and tasting and smelling colours provides an incomparable and pivotal lens through which Oli sees the world, and by which we understand her perspective. This is a courageous and brave book which seeks to amplify women’s voices through the trauma they face and the numerous ways they survive and thrive.
May 1, 2020
Wow. What a powerful, beautifully written novel. I absolutely loved the authentic and raw way Hardcastle writes. I really resonated with Oli, and she describes what it is to be a woman so incredibly well. Oli also has synesthesia, which means she hears the world in colour, and the way the author described this condition was incredible. I’d never heard of it before, but now I feel like I understand more how people with this condition experience the world.
The trauma Oli experiences is also written so well. Oli’s thoughts of the assault are never black and white, and the questions she asks herself just makes your heart break for her. This was an eye opening read for me, and I think a worthwhile read for every woman.
The book lost me just a tiny little bit at the end. It got a little bit abstract and ambiguous (2 of my least favourite things), although I must admit, I never expected this one to be tied up at the end with a nice pretty bow, it’s just not that kind of book.
Overall, this was a fast but eye-opening and thought-provoking read. If you’re a fan of fiction that addresses important feminist issues at the same time, y0u’ll love this one.
4.5 stars
The trauma Oli experiences is also written so well. Oli’s thoughts of the assault are never black and white, and the questions she asks herself just makes your heart break for her. This was an eye opening read for me, and I think a worthwhile read for every woman.
The book lost me just a tiny little bit at the end. It got a little bit abstract and ambiguous (2 of my least favourite things), although I must admit, I never expected this one to be tied up at the end with a nice pretty bow, it’s just not that kind of book.
Overall, this was a fast but eye-opening and thought-provoking read. If you’re a fan of fiction that addresses important feminist issues at the same time, y0u’ll love this one.
4.5 stars
November 21, 2024
Nie zachwyciła mnie tak jak niektórych czytelników. Nie wywołała we mnie emocji, zabrakło mi w niej czegoś, czego mogłabym się uchwycić. Długo ją czytałam, nie mogłam wejść w tę historię. Bardzo trudną, ale też zbyt wielowątkową. Niektóre fragmenty w ogóle nie były tu potrzebne, aby ta historia wybrzmiała sama w sobie.
June 16, 2021
4,5⭐️
“Warum ist schön sein wichtig? Warum ist es das Wichtigste? Schön für wen? Sagt mir, dass ich eine Heldin bin. Sagt mir, dass ich ein Genie bin. Nein, noch besser, sagt mir, dass ich ein verdammter Orkan bin.“
Das Meer, Natur, Landschaften, Freundschaften, Stille, Farben, Beziehungen und Wahrheiten über Dinge, die vielen Frauen passieren.
„Unter Deck“ hat mich beeindruckt und nicht losgelassen. Klare Empfehlung!
“Warum ist schön sein wichtig? Warum ist es das Wichtigste? Schön für wen? Sagt mir, dass ich eine Heldin bin. Sagt mir, dass ich ein Genie bin. Nein, noch besser, sagt mir, dass ich ein verdammter Orkan bin.“
Das Meer, Natur, Landschaften, Freundschaften, Stille, Farben, Beziehungen und Wahrheiten über Dinge, die vielen Frauen passieren.
„Unter Deck“ hat mich beeindruckt und nicht losgelassen. Klare Empfehlung!
May 18, 2020
This book is powerful, and I think it would have been even more powerful if it had stuck to one main idea. Instead of focusing exclusively on sexual abuse and its ramifications (major trigger warnings) it also tried to be a book about art, race relations and climate change. And it felt a little scattered. The writing was poetic and it's message was important - but it just needed more focus.
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