by Rosie Thomas. A Novel.
Title seems to say that of a riddle to be answered or a puzzle to be solved in the course of the progress in the story or at its end. Both were misleading. There are several women i.e. Jesse, Lizzy, Beth, Sadie, Joyce etc and none except Jesse keeps a secret that comes out in the middle of the story itself. Finally it was no secret.
In a blurb the book was introduced as the love story of an older woman for a much younger boy, though the boy was not that deserving. Jesse, a middle aged mother of a boy of nineteen had the misfortune of losing him in a fatal accident. The boy named Danny was a self centred egoist and adventurer. His friend Rob is a little older they team together in many occasions. Their closeness was not known to the mother or her daughter. It happens that the boys were almost dead drunk in a pub where they spot 2 or 3 girls and they drive to the place of one of the girl. Danny in his urge tries to force on the girl when other girls shout out and neighbours calls the police. Before the police reached the spot the elder boy drags the younger to the van and drives fast. At one point the van meets a barrier and crashed throwing out the younger from his seat causing his death. The story starts from this point.
By turn of circumstances the mother feels a soft corner to the elder and in the process of helping being helped. Jesse was a divorcee but we are not sure whether that was due to just incompatibility, infidelity or cruelty or else. At later stages the situation gets recollected thru Jess and her husband Ian still there doesn’t mention of actual happenings. On the other hand the mutual behaviour of the daughter and father shows the mutual affinity between them and also the dead son. There was no hint of a secret owned by Jess but much later. So it could not be cause for the divorce. Then we have to believe the author herself as an authority.
In the story the main characters are Jess her dead son Danny and his friend Rob. Rob is a little elder to Danny. Jess comes to know of Rob only after the fatal accident that took the life of her son. Everyone is sure that the accident was caused by the drunken driving of Rob. None of them had any idea that Danny equally to be blamed for the situation. The repeated appearance of Rob at the hospital and at the funeral and then at home of Danny’s mother. At no place author hints of any bodily attraction between Rob and Jesse but circumstances slowly goes to a climax when Jesse allows Rob to stay overnight in her home. They could be attracted by other than love or sex but no. The encounter ends in mutual desire and demands.Rob was about to tap the door of Jesse’s bedroom. He did not. So the elder woman does the tapping and enters Rob’s bedroom. Still it is not necessary or predictable. They seek each other touching and feeling their younger bodies. Jesse experiences a sexual union unprecedented in her past. At this juncture she remembers about meeting Tonio twenty year back when she was that much young and wanted an experience, a satisfactory sex. The strong attraction between the two might be because of the prolonged abstinence from the time of her divorce. Secondly. Almost virgin state of the boy Rob. Do we accept this as love between them? No the progress of story confirms it. She willingly or otherwise separates from the boy, not a sign of love. Or the other way round the boy just takes the opportunity to be nice to the bereaved mother and fulfils a long felt need for intense sex that the lady never experienced or experienced only with Tonio in
I think that the author is averse to love between elder woman and younger boy of her son’s age. Does this seem unnatural? Not to this writer. There are examples of older men cavorting young girls without anyone taking serious objection then why if the situation is reverse? The author could have developed a story based on real love between the older and the young. Sex is only secondary and supportive of the theme.
In the book Rosie Thomas make laboured narrations to prolong the narrative. There are some peripheral characters in the story but they have not contributed to the theme and conclusion. They are just there. The author failed to bring the social need of extra characters introduced by her in the story. Without Lizz, her husband and child the story could still be interesting. Similarly the daughter Beth did not contribute anything to clarify the character of Jesse her mother. The furtive sexual escapades of Beth and Sam did not benefit the story and they also could be dispensed with.
The essence of the story could found in the 50 pages between pages 135 and 185 where both Jesse and Rob meet try to understand each other. Did they know that they are in love with out being acquainted? Though the attraction is mutual, was sex inevitable? Not exactly. But the author seems to think that love expresses itself thru sexual act. Intense and prolonged sexual act means intense and prolonged love. The sex is delicately dealt with. As I maintain the essence of their relationship could not be different even if there were no other characters or episodes added. Even the death of her son in tragic circumstances does not make much difference if Jesse was in real love with her son’s friend. Only established morality comes in their way. Love is subtle and profound and do not depend on the age, sex, status or any other variable. From this point of view Rosie Thomas promised more but failed to deliver. Let us conclude this view.
No comments:
Post a Comment