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The Submerged Cathedral
'Set me as a seal on your heart, for love is stronger than death.'
Spanning many years, travelling across Australia's vast continent and through some of Europe's great cities, The Submerged Cathedral is a beguiling, heartbreaking story of paradise and the fall; of faith, sacrifice and atonement; and of sisterly love and rivalry. Most of all, however, it is about an enduring and sacred love—a love stronger than death—and the journeys undertaken in its name.
Spanning many years, travelling across Australia's vast continent and through some of Europe's great cities, The Submerged Cathedral is a beguiling, heartbreaking story of paradise and the fall; of faith, sacrifice and atonement; and of sisterly love and rivalry. Most of all, however, it is about an enduring and sacred love—a love stronger than death—and the journeys undertaken in its name.
302 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
23 people are currently reading
487 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Wood
23 books1,083 followersCharlotte Wood is the author of six novels and two books of non-fiction. Her new novel is The Weekend.
Her previous novel, The Natural Way of Things, won the 2016 Stella Prize, the 2016 Indie Book of the Year and Novel of the Year, was joint winner of the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction.
Her non-fiction works include The Writer’s Room, a collection of interviews with authors about the creative process, and Love & Hunger, a book about cooking. Her features and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Literary Hub, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Saturday Paper among other publications. In 2019 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant services to literature, and was named one of the Australian Financial Review's 100 Women of Influence.
Her latest project is a new podcast, The Writer's Room with Charlotte Wood, in which she interviews authors, critics and other artists about the creative process.
Her previous novel, The Natural Way of Things, won the 2016 Stella Prize, the 2016 Indie Book of the Year and Novel of the Year, was joint winner of the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction.
Her non-fiction works include The Writer’s Room, a collection of interviews with authors about the creative process, and Love & Hunger, a book about cooking. Her features and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Literary Hub, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Saturday Paper among other publications. In 2019 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant services to literature, and was named one of the Australian Financial Review's 100 Women of Influence.
Her latest project is a new podcast, The Writer's Room with Charlotte Wood, in which she interviews authors, critics and other artists about the creative process.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
September 3, 2018
‘Love is stronger than death .’
There are four parts to this novel, as it touches on the lives of Martin and Jocelyn. The key years are 1963, 1964, 1975 and 1984.
In 1963, Martin and Jocelyn meet, and fall in love. Jocelyn has a home in the mountains, Martin has a home near a Sydney beach. While Jocelyn is happy to live with Martin, she doesn’t want to marry.
'She held out her own hand and put it into his, and he held it fast, and as she stepped across that gap she knew her childhood was finished.’
Martin is a doctor. Jocelyn has a contract to proofread ‘The Completed Illustrated Encyclopedia of Australia’. She is halfway through her contract and up to volume six. Those parts of the Encyclopaedia dedicated to Australian fauna particularly interest Jocelyn and inspire her to create a garden. Martin and Jocelyn are happy together, in their own form of paradise. And then, Jocelyn receives a letter. Her older sister Ellen is coming home, bringing her small daughter and is three months pregnant. Ellen is leaving her husband.
Jocelyn returns to the mountains and, while Martin visits, Jocelyn’s focus on Ellen and her daughter leave little time and space for Jocelyn and Martin. Ellen decides to return to her husband in the UK, Jocelyn decides to go with her. She tells Martin. What happens to two people who are meant to be together but are separated? The first part of the story occupies the first half of the novel. In the remaining parts of the novel we see first Martin and then Jocelyn as they struggle to find meaning in their lives. Martin seeks isolation, Jocelyn undertakes a form of pilgrimage.
Years later, Jocelyn returns to Australia and finds a place to establish her garden. And Martin?
This is one of those beautifully written novels where each word seems to have been perfectly positioned. I needed to read slowly, to absorb the writing, but wanted to read quickly to find out how it would end. At various stages I was angry with each of the main characters (and especially with Ellen). I wanted Martin and Jocelyn to find happiness without some of the painful journeying that each was required to do. I wanted images of barren desert, an absence of belief (in self) and the sense of desertion replaced with fruitful gardens, with beauty and a sense of belonging.
This is a novel which invites the reader to feel, to experience what Jocelyn and Martin are going through, and to think about why. It is also a novel which, one day, I will reread.
‘Is a garden always a gift?’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
There are four parts to this novel, as it touches on the lives of Martin and Jocelyn. The key years are 1963, 1964, 1975 and 1984.
In 1963, Martin and Jocelyn meet, and fall in love. Jocelyn has a home in the mountains, Martin has a home near a Sydney beach. While Jocelyn is happy to live with Martin, she doesn’t want to marry.
'She held out her own hand and put it into his, and he held it fast, and as she stepped across that gap she knew her childhood was finished.’
Martin is a doctor. Jocelyn has a contract to proofread ‘The Completed Illustrated Encyclopedia of Australia’. She is halfway through her contract and up to volume six. Those parts of the Encyclopaedia dedicated to Australian fauna particularly interest Jocelyn and inspire her to create a garden. Martin and Jocelyn are happy together, in their own form of paradise. And then, Jocelyn receives a letter. Her older sister Ellen is coming home, bringing her small daughter and is three months pregnant. Ellen is leaving her husband.
Jocelyn returns to the mountains and, while Martin visits, Jocelyn’s focus on Ellen and her daughter leave little time and space for Jocelyn and Martin. Ellen decides to return to her husband in the UK, Jocelyn decides to go with her. She tells Martin. What happens to two people who are meant to be together but are separated? The first part of the story occupies the first half of the novel. In the remaining parts of the novel we see first Martin and then Jocelyn as they struggle to find meaning in their lives. Martin seeks isolation, Jocelyn undertakes a form of pilgrimage.
Years later, Jocelyn returns to Australia and finds a place to establish her garden. And Martin?
This is one of those beautifully written novels where each word seems to have been perfectly positioned. I needed to read slowly, to absorb the writing, but wanted to read quickly to find out how it would end. At various stages I was angry with each of the main characters (and especially with Ellen). I wanted Martin and Jocelyn to find happiness without some of the painful journeying that each was required to do. I wanted images of barren desert, an absence of belief (in self) and the sense of desertion replaced with fruitful gardens, with beauty and a sense of belonging.
This is a novel which invites the reader to feel, to experience what Jocelyn and Martin are going through, and to think about why. It is also a novel which, one day, I will reread.
‘Is a garden always a gift?’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
May 14, 2020
Oh this is just lovely. This is all about love. About how love can sit with you forever. How love takes away the pain. How it can be shared so deeply with memories. How the need for love takes you to corners you didn't know existed before. And how what you are supposed to do can not always be what you need.
This book was incredibly sad to me. But strangely I didn't leave this book wanting to sit in a corner. There was this strange, uplifting take away for me. Like something I could put into practice. A tale of what not to do if you like.
This is also my first Charlotte Wood. The anticipation of whether I would like the "hyped" author has left this book sitting on my shelf for such a long time. But no longer. I am a Charlotte Wood fan. And her books will no longer linger on my shelves.
This book was incredibly sad to me. But strangely I didn't leave this book wanting to sit in a corner. There was this strange, uplifting take away for me. Like something I could put into practice. A tale of what not to do if you like.
This is also my first Charlotte Wood. The anticipation of whether I would like the "hyped" author has left this book sitting on my shelf for such a long time. But no longer. I am a Charlotte Wood fan. And her books will no longer linger on my shelves.
May 13, 2012
Read it in a couple of days - hard to put down and one that stays with you throughout the day.
January 14, 2013
In 1963 Martin and Jocelyn meet in the Blue Mountains. He is a filling in for the local doctor who is on three months leave and she is an editor proofing The Complete illustrated encyclopaedia of Australia. They fall in love and when Martin's time is up he asks Jocelyn to marry him. She refuses but says she will move in with him in his home in Sydney. They have an a wonderful time while Jocelyn dreams of the garden she wishes to grow. Then Jocelyn receives a letter from her sister Ellen who is coming back to Australia, she is pregnant and is leaving her husband in England. With Ellen's arrival the world that Jocelyn and Martin have built starts to come apart and eventually shatters.
This book is a beautifully written work of art. Her simple prose opens wide vistas of thought and reasoning. I couldn't put it down and had to read it in one sitting quite often with my heart in my throat. This is one book that will haunt me for a very long time.
This book is a beautifully written work of art. Her simple prose opens wide vistas of thought and reasoning. I couldn't put it down and had to read it in one sitting quite often with my heart in my throat. This is one book that will haunt me for a very long time.
January 16, 2008
Adored it, so beautifully heartbreaking! One of my favourite books, and her new one The Children (published Oct 2007) is great too.
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August 3, 2011I love, love, love this love story. So beautifully written parts of it read like poetry. Sad and moving and beautiful.
December 15, 2013
Simply beautiful.
September 17, 2025
Gorgeously written. I thoroughly enjoyed part 1, the introduction of characters and familial struggles but I began to disengage through the remaining parts. Spectacular writing, the voice is so strong and this book is packed with stunning observations and comparisons however it failed to connect with me. I’m really looking forward to reading more from Wood, especially her later works!
March 2, 2017
Great read. The author's succinct yet powerful language created visual images. Loved the link with Debussy too.
July 18, 2017
Charlotte Wood describes the Australian landscape beautifully. In this earlier novel she demonstrates her knowledge of plants and gardening and cultivates them like she does her characters. Despite her attention to details, her leading female character is much stronger than her male especially when Martin is with the men in the monastery all of whom seem rather sketchy despite the section being from the males point of views. The dreamlike location and quietude add to this hazy sensation of people existing but not really living.
Nevertheless the book is full of destruction and thoughtful restoration. Jocelyn's life is turned upside down when her sister returns from England and she loses herself and her chance for happiness by assuming responsibility for her sister and her niece. The breakdown of Jocelyn's relationship with her sister and later with her husband, parallels the breakdown of the community that Martin flees to. Fortunately the destruction of Jocelyn's bush garden during the bushfire is only temporary as it beautifully regenerates as does the enduring love when it is finally realised.
Nevertheless the book is full of destruction and thoughtful restoration. Jocelyn's life is turned upside down when her sister returns from England and she loses herself and her chance for happiness by assuming responsibility for her sister and her niece. The breakdown of Jocelyn's relationship with her sister and later with her husband, parallels the breakdown of the community that Martin flees to. Fortunately the destruction of Jocelyn's bush garden during the bushfire is only temporary as it beautifully regenerates as does the enduring love when it is finally realised.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2016
This is another beautifully written book by Charlotte Wood. She has a real gift with words.
The first part of the story is of Jocelyn and Martin, and then of Sandra's sister Ellen who returns from London with her daughter fleeing from a violent husband. Ellen is pregnant and very demanding.
Jocelyn drops everything to help her sister and as a result she looses Martin.
The next parts of the book meandered a bit between Jocelyn and Martin's separate lives over a period of 20 years. The second part of the book did not have the tensions of the first bit and was not as enjoyable.
The first part of the story is of Jocelyn and Martin, and then of Sandra's sister Ellen who returns from London with her daughter fleeing from a violent husband. Ellen is pregnant and very demanding.
Jocelyn drops everything to help her sister and as a result she looses Martin.
The next parts of the book meandered a bit between Jocelyn and Martin's separate lives over a period of 20 years. The second part of the book did not have the tensions of the first bit and was not as enjoyable.
September 29, 2015
Beautifully written. Life's challenges so stark and raw!
July 29, 2025
The kind of book I’d want to write, a beautiful vivid fever dream following strange, intuitively-written characters. The structure and pacing of the book was a little clunky, and one could definitely critique it as a whole, I’ll admit I became lost or disinterested at times. But I really enjoyed reading it, felt inspired by it and loved the arrangement of words, which flowed so naturally. I feel like there were a lot of gaps but it didn’t feel like an absence, rather an invitation for the reader to fill them.
June 13, 2019
Lovely writing. A contemplative text rather than riveting.
January 24, 2016
Oh how I savoured each considered, beautiful word in the first half of Wood's novel. Her ability to render a reader speechless at her skill and artistry was on full display when exploring the complex relationships surrounding the four main characters. Unfortunately for me the second half of the book covered the two topics that I really struggle to read - nature/garden writing and travel writing. I have no doubt that someone who enjoys these genres will fall in love with this novel, and my rating is in no way based on her writing and stands merely as testament to my specific tastes in reading.
March 12, 2020
Totally absorbing, emotional on every level and deeply thought provoking; I could barely break myself away from it. My heart was on a roller coaster ride. Charlotte Wood's spare prose is a work of art indeed. Now I'm searching for more of her work.
April 13, 2014
Tedious. Just wanted to slap the main character out of her pointless self sacrifice. Very pretty cover, though.
June 24, 2016
Read it twice now and I loved it as much the second time!
June 2, 2020
3.5 stars
Jocelyn meets Martin near her home in the Blue Mountains and they fall in love. When Martin has to go back to Sydney, he asks Jocelyn to marry him. She refuses, but does agree to go and live with him - which is a little scandalous in 1963.
When Jocelyn’s sister Ellen decides she is leaving her husband in London and returning to Australia, Jocelyn decides she must go back to the Blue Mountains to live with her and Martin agrees to join them on the weekends. But after Ellen decides to return to London after some time, Jocelyn decides she must go with her...leaving Martin behind. What follows is twenty years of their lives apart, but never really forgetting the other.
Whilst the writing in this book is beautiful, it was almost a frustrating read due to Jocelyn and Martin being so passive and never communicating effectively. I was also frustrated by Jocelyn’s self sacrificing behavior with her sister Ellen, who more or less treated her as her personal slave.
The book also took a rather strange turn in the middle, which to me didn’t feel right for the character of Martin, however I suppose I never got a great sense of the real Martin, so perhaps it was. It just seemed strange and rather abrupt and made me feel like I was reading a completely different book.
That aside, there were lovely descriptions of gardens and plants in the book, as Jocelyn worked to create the garden of her dreams. There were many beautiful elements in the book, however I do have to say that I enjoyed the first half better than the second half of it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Jocelyn meets Martin near her home in the Blue Mountains and they fall in love. When Martin has to go back to Sydney, he asks Jocelyn to marry him. She refuses, but does agree to go and live with him - which is a little scandalous in 1963.
When Jocelyn’s sister Ellen decides she is leaving her husband in London and returning to Australia, Jocelyn decides she must go back to the Blue Mountains to live with her and Martin agrees to join them on the weekends. But after Ellen decides to return to London after some time, Jocelyn decides she must go with her...leaving Martin behind. What follows is twenty years of their lives apart, but never really forgetting the other.
Whilst the writing in this book is beautiful, it was almost a frustrating read due to Jocelyn and Martin being so passive and never communicating effectively. I was also frustrated by Jocelyn’s self sacrificing behavior with her sister Ellen, who more or less treated her as her personal slave.
The book also took a rather strange turn in the middle, which to me didn’t feel right for the character of Martin, however I suppose I never got a great sense of the real Martin, so perhaps it was. It just seemed strange and rather abrupt and made me feel like I was reading a completely different book.
That aside, there were lovely descriptions of gardens and plants in the book, as Jocelyn worked to create the garden of her dreams. There were many beautiful elements in the book, however I do have to say that I enjoyed the first half better than the second half of it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
August 21, 2020
Charlotte Wood doesn't hurry the writing of her novels. Her first, Pieces of a Girl, was started in 1994 after the death of her mother and published in 1999; The Submerged Cathedral, her second, has followed five years later. While this production schedule doesn't affect the novel in any way it does give an indication of the pace of the book: slow, languorous and contemplative.
The novel follows the love affair between Jocelyn and Martin from their first meeting in 1963 to the final section of the book in 1984. Familial ties are strengthened and broken, love is made and lost, and characters grow throughout the novel in sometimes strange and unexpected ways. The only discordant note I found in the novel concerns two major turning points in the plot. I found it a bit peculiar that the strong characters involved would stand silently by and allow their circumstances to change so greatly without some response. But the rest of the novel flows beautifully and it may well be that this reader has missed something of importance that would explain it all. For a while, about halfway though the book, I couldn't see where it was all headed. The characters seemed to be walking and talking with little in the way of any forward movement and I was becoming rather impatient. I shouldn't have worried. Wood brings it all together rather well, and the ending is both satisfying and hopeful. I can see that I will be coming back to this book at some time in the future - probably when Wood's next novel is published.
The novel follows the love affair between Jocelyn and Martin from their first meeting in 1963 to the final section of the book in 1984. Familial ties are strengthened and broken, love is made and lost, and characters grow throughout the novel in sometimes strange and unexpected ways. The only discordant note I found in the novel concerns two major turning points in the plot. I found it a bit peculiar that the strong characters involved would stand silently by and allow their circumstances to change so greatly without some response. But the rest of the novel flows beautifully and it may well be that this reader has missed something of importance that would explain it all. For a while, about halfway though the book, I couldn't see where it was all headed. The characters seemed to be walking and talking with little in the way of any forward movement and I was becoming rather impatient. I shouldn't have worried. Wood brings it all together rather well, and the ending is both satisfying and hopeful. I can see that I will be coming back to this book at some time in the future - probably when Wood's next novel is published.
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January 18, 2024I read Wood’s Stone Yard Devotional first: odd, highly original, vivid writing, a 4 star; The Children a definite 5 star, must read more Charlotte Wood; Animal People, a disappointed 3 star. Now The Submerged Cathedral. It starts interestingly with some good characterisation in Jocelyn and her awful sister Ellen, Martin, but then everyone starts acting against their own interests, their motivations opaque. To go into this would provide spoilers so I’ll keep it general. Of course Wood is writing with her usual pointilliste clarity of detail but it seems she has lost the big picture. A series of episodes, many unbelievable, become related only in the last few pages with a fairy tale unlikelihood. Debussy’s La Cathedrale Engloutie is mentioned only once, so why this title? A reference to people being drowned by events? I have to say that here Wood has overplayed her penchant for monasticism and destroyed relationships. Jocelyn towards the end wails about the ‘f…ing pointlessness’ of things. Exactly. There is a bleak nihilism in this story, typified by the little Spanish boy slapping his mother then laughing at her while she smiles weakly. That sort of thing.
November 18, 2020
This book was hauntingly lovely, concentrating on all the emptiness in our lives and how it defines us. All the waiting, longing, patient growing behind the scenes. It leaves so much unsaid, and so much unresolved, and yet that is what makes it so wonderful.
The characters were generally not well rounded or fleshed out, not all likable, occasionally veering towards stereotype, and yet, again, it was this assemblage of glances that feels more lifelike than typically deeper renditions. The fact that people remained mysterious, without clear origin stories or defined backstories and often drifted away without cathartic revelations, or clear destinations, again, rings true.
It was the title of this novel that made me pick it up, and although the submerged cathedral played a (very) negligible role in the plot, the sense of drowned ambitions, and wavering dreams was applicable throughout.
A very moving tale, which I would highly recommend.
The characters were generally not well rounded or fleshed out, not all likable, occasionally veering towards stereotype, and yet, again, it was this assemblage of glances that feels more lifelike than typically deeper renditions. The fact that people remained mysterious, without clear origin stories or defined backstories and often drifted away without cathartic revelations, or clear destinations, again, rings true.
It was the title of this novel that made me pick it up, and although the submerged cathedral played a (very) negligible role in the plot, the sense of drowned ambitions, and wavering dreams was applicable throughout.
A very moving tale, which I would highly recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2024
It’s a beautiful original love story. It’s very focused on Australian landscape.
It gives big moments of “if only” that did stay with me & did hurt.
My big issue is that when writing a book about Australia, the land, there’s no excuse for modern writers not to include more information about First Nation’s People. It really annoyed me as the protagonist is editing an Encyclopaedia of Australia (which is a fantastic plot device) so of course there’d be mention of them, however ignorant or racist.
All these gorgeous descriptions of the Australian environment & only the tiniest of allusions to the state of the people who it belongs to right near the end.
I don’t see how an educated character can constantly feel such a tie to a land & not think of the original custodians more than once. It was a glaring absence to me.
I’m still giving it 5 stars because it was original, well written, & I’ll remember it.
It gives big moments of “if only” that did stay with me & did hurt.
My big issue is that when writing a book about Australia, the land, there’s no excuse for modern writers not to include more information about First Nation’s People. It really annoyed me as the protagonist is editing an Encyclopaedia of Australia (which is a fantastic plot device) so of course there’d be mention of them, however ignorant or racist.
All these gorgeous descriptions of the Australian environment & only the tiniest of allusions to the state of the people who it belongs to right near the end.
I don’t see how an educated character can constantly feel such a tie to a land & not think of the original custodians more than once. It was a glaring absence to me.
I’m still giving it 5 stars because it was original, well written, & I’ll remember it.
August 17, 2019
A low three stars. I want to like this a lot, but I don't think I really do. Having sampled some of Wood's other (more recent) work, I think maybe I like her more as she gets older.
The plot of this book is fairly solid, although I'm not entirely sure I was convinced by the motivation behind Martin's mid-book decision that's fairly significant. And it's an interesting historical romance. Still, I think you have to be able to justify lines like "His certainty falls over her like rain", and I'm not sure this prose style can quite do that. (I'm also intrigued by the author's bald admission in the endnotes that she "transplanted" a real-life event a few years earlier to fit her timeline! Might have been best just to discreetly get away with that one...)
The plot of this book is fairly solid, although I'm not entirely sure I was convinced by the motivation behind Martin's mid-book decision that's fairly significant. And it's an interesting historical romance. Still, I think you have to be able to justify lines like "His certainty falls over her like rain", and I'm not sure this prose style can quite do that. (I'm also intrigued by the author's bald admission in the endnotes that she "transplanted" a real-life event a few years earlier to fit her timeline! Might have been best just to discreetly get away with that one...)
August 21, 2022
Two and a half stars.
Very mixed feelings about this story. To be honest I think it taught me a lot about myself. I have become impatient in my old age…impatient with rambling stories that seem to be going nowhere…impatient and frustrated with weak and self sacrificing characters, cross with stories jumping from one place or time zone to another (therefore, my inability to keep up) and last, but probably not least, my forgiveness of a just ok story because of a happy ending which brought tears to my eyes.
Very mixed feelings about this story. To be honest I think it taught me a lot about myself. I have become impatient in my old age…impatient with rambling stories that seem to be going nowhere…impatient and frustrated with weak and self sacrificing characters, cross with stories jumping from one place or time zone to another (therefore, my inability to keep up) and last, but probably not least, my forgiveness of a just ok story because of a happy ending which brought tears to my eyes.
November 3, 2020
This is the story of Jocelyn and Martin, who start off together but are eventually torn apart by circumstance. They each feel so much grief that they can no longer connect with each other, although they each desperately want to.
Eventually they separate, and then you follow them individually as each learns to live without the other. It's an exploration of grief, of guilt, of relationships, and I thought it was beautiful.
Eventually they separate, and then you follow them individually as each learns to live without the other. It's an exploration of grief, of guilt, of relationships, and I thought it was beautiful.
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October 31, 2023Enjoyed this early book by the author. the interviewer mentioned at a talk for her latest book that it was her favourite so read while waiting for latest one. Surprised to find it seemed like a similar setting to Stoneyard devotional.
A bit disconnected in places and covers a lot of ground with much unsaid between characters but altogether it held my interest and I was concerned for Martin and Jocelyn.
A bit disconnected in places and covers a lot of ground with much unsaid between characters but altogether it held my interest and I was concerned for Martin and Jocelyn.
October 22, 2022
Covers issues confronting women today
Their feelings or stories not being believed ie Ellen’s injuries / miscarriages
Domestic violence / control - Martin thinking he would be able to order Jocelyn to stay if they were married
Reading about J thinking about E and Thomas - repeating the trauma / emotions I feel reading about her and them.
Not sure it made sense that Martin went to the monastery. No earlier signs of mental illness. Though I can see how having a baby die on your watch plus your girlfriend leaving you would lead you down that path
Why did she sweep all the shells off the table (in England)? Was that an example of how the man always needed to have the upper hand?
Debussy piece - piano, starts slow and simple, crescendo-ing, building louder and more complex
Enjoyed it more towards the end. Written in an ‘Australian’ style of that is a thing.
Their feelings or stories not being believed ie Ellen’s injuries / miscarriages
Domestic violence / control - Martin thinking he would be able to order Jocelyn to stay if they were married
Reading about J thinking about E and Thomas - repeating the trauma / emotions I feel reading about her and them.
Not sure it made sense that Martin went to the monastery. No earlier signs of mental illness. Though I can see how having a baby die on your watch plus your girlfriend leaving you would lead you down that path
Why did she sweep all the shells off the table (in England)? Was that an example of how the man always needed to have the upper hand?
Debussy piece - piano, starts slow and simple, crescendo-ing, building louder and more complex
Enjoyed it more towards the end. Written in an ‘Australian’ style of that is a thing.
June 1, 2025
Tough to properly rate. It’s written more than capably enough, the story is moderately interesting in its own way, but once again Charlotte Wood has populated a novel with overwrought characters who behave in such a tragic and gothic manner that it’s hard to resist the urge to throw the book from time to time.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews