Michael Sala
Autore di The Restorer
Opere di Michael Sala
Opere correlate
Etichette
Informazioni generali
- Sesso
- male
- Nazionalità
- Netherlands (birth)
- Luogo di residenza
- Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Utenti
Recensioni
Premi e riconoscimenti
Potrebbero anche piacerti
Autori correlati
Statistiche
- Opere
- 2
- Opere correlate
- 3
- Utenti
- 53
- Popolarità
- #303,173
- Voto
- 3.6
- Recensioni
- 6
- ISBN
- 13
The book is set in 1989. That was the year when the Berlin Wall crumpled under the onslaught from ordinary people; when the Chinese pro-democracy movement was crushed in the massacre in Tiananmen Square; and when the Newcastle earthquake killed thirteen people, hospitalised 160, and made 1000 people homeless. Allusions in the novel to these tectonic events suggest the complexities of 'restoration': East and West Germany were subsequently restored to unity with some fractures remaining even now; the Chinese government restored a widely condemned and uneasy order in China over the bodies of the protestors; and the earthquake created the imperative for restoration even though things could never be the same, not least for the injured and bereaved.
Sala's novel mirrors these events. Maryanne tries to 'restore' her family, to bring them back together after separation but she finds that their shared history doesn't mean they have enough in common to thrive. Her authoritarian husband Roy tolerates no dissension and enforces his will with violence; and efforts to restore the family to its earlier days cannot make things the way they were.
The story is told through three voices: Maryanne, vacillating between standing up to her husband and letting her love for him take precedence; her daughter Freya whose coming-of-age is marred by the constant conflict at home and her own risk-taking behaviour; and — bookending the novel — Richard, a gay neighbour, who performs the role of the bystander who defers intervention until its too late.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2022/05/19/the-restorer-by-michael-sala/… (altro)