In her latest novel,Gail Jones moves deep into the heart of Joseph Conrad.Credit:
The patterning of narrative is frequently,often slyly,punctuated by moments of pure horror as it weaves its mysterious way through the lives of Helen,and of Polish-British writer Joseph Conrad,the subject of Helen’s abandoned thesis.
Alongside this thesis,is another project,Helen’s anti-thesis,wherein Conrad’s dramatic existence is explored. The documents of the anti-thesis,accidentally left on a train,mark a key element of suspense that hums beneath the fabric of the novel,and that becomes central to one of the most atrocious scenes.
As Conrad’s life is gradually unfolded via Helen’s research,the ghost of the seafaring novelist occasionally manifests itself in visions,his face “suddenly huge on the screen of her mind”.
Gail Jones’ novel is a joy to read.Credit:
From the age of 10 Helen lived in Tasmania with her parents and brothers. The first time she heard of Conrad was when her father took her to see the wreck of the Otago on the edge of the Derwent River. Once upon a time,Conrad captained this ship,and although he never visited Tasmania,the “emptied body” of the boat sets up in Helen “a kind of dreaming”. A whisper of the sensational history of Conrad has entered the mundane life of Helen.
This sighting of the Otago is placed late in the narrative,which shifts constantly across time and memory,brushing an event in one life against an event in another,sometimes with the ease of a gentle watery wave,sometimes with the clash of a violent storm at sea.
Violence comes to Helen in the form of her Australian boyfriend,Justin. He alternates between charm and menace,and has nothing but contempt for the handwritten index cards of Helen’s anti-thesis. The reader shudders whenever Justin appears,knowing,as Helen knows,that he heralds the darkness and the horror. He can switch from amusing storytelling to grabbing a woman in his audience and almost strangling her,or worse.