What if....?

Curtis Sittenfeld's novel Rodham (2020) explores what might have happened if Hillary Rodham did not marry Bill Clinton. Would there be a Clinton Presidency? Would Hillary Rodham have a glittering professional career? Would America get its first female President?

In this fictional version of the life of Hillary Rodham, she pursues a different life and career path. While they still meet and are romantically involved while at Yale, Hillary rejects Bill's proposals of marriage because she realises he will never be faithful to her. They part ways and Bill continues on to become Governor of Arkansas, marrying another woman and having a family, while Hillary returns to Illinois to teach law at Northwestern University before running for office herself.

Hillary was always a trailblazer, from her commencement speech at Wellesley to her lifelong advocacy for education and health care. In Rodham, she is complex - intelligent and worldly, empathetic and human, loyal and lonely. Ambitious and determined, along the way Hillary makes some poor decisions which alienate friends and cause a media furore which she must navigate.

Clinton is portrayed as an ego-centric womaniser who has endearing, charming qualities - an electric personality that people gravitate towards. Whereas Hillary is plain and cerebral, and has to fight hard to be heard. Even Donald Trump makes an appearance in his trademark bombastic style.

Even though Rodham is fiction, I found it difficult to fully remove what I already know of the people involved and this was an obstacle when reading as I could never fully immerse myself in the narrative. The early scenes of Hillary and Bill were a delightful romp, but the detailed descriptions of their amorous sex life made for awkward reading.

Sittenfeld makes some interesting choices, including writing it in first person, which allows the author to explore how Hillary might struggle between her private and public personas. She also covers issues of race, gender and ageing in a fascinating way. I particularly enjoyed the way in which female friendships are portrayed, with Hillary's relationships with lifelong friends (and their children) showcasing the importance of these deep, unwavering bonds.

Rodham is a strangely compelling novel and, in truth, while I am glad that I have read it I am not entirely sure how I feel about it. But it has left me wondering... what if?

Greek Tragedy

Since my overseas holiday was cancelled due to the pandemic, I have been escaping through reading novels set in destinations I long to visit. Patricia Highsmith's The Two Faces of January (1964) is set in Greece - in Athens and the island of Crete - and Paris. 

American conman Chester MacFarland and his young wife Colette are on holiday in Europe. While in Athens, the MacFarlands realise that their past is catching up with them and they need to quickly move on. A new acquaintance, American ex-pat Rydal Keener offers to help the MacFarlands with new identities and a route out of Athens. The threesome travel to Crete and, over an intense few days, secrets are exposed and tensions rise between Rydal and Chester, with Colette caught in the middle. A showdown at the Palace of Knossos changes the relationship between the two men irrevocably; now determined to blame each other for a terrible crime. A cat-and-mouse pursuit ensues as they head back to Athens and on to France, trying to outrun the police and each other. 

I have been on a bit of a Highsmith run lately, having recently read The Tremor of Forgery (1969), This Sweet Sickness (1960), and Deep Water (1957). She has an ability to create a page-turning thriller, with multi-layered characters and fascinating plot devices. In The Two Faces of January I found it intriguing how she explored the dark backstories of Chester and Rydal and their interpretations of their own morality.

A film was released in 2014 directed by Hossein Amini with Viggo Mortensen (Chester), Kirsten Dunst (Colette) and Oscar Isaac (Rydal). Upon finishing the novel I watched the movie, which I greatly enjoyed. The cinematography was beautiful, transporting viewers to 1960s Greece. The film differs from the novel and the climactic end scenes have moved from Les Halles in Paris to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. The three actors were brilliant in their portrayals of the Americans abroad. 

Miles Franklin Award Winner 2020

The winner of the 2020 Miles Franklin Award, Australia's most prestigious literary award, was announced via a live online presentation on 16 July 2020. This year the award and its $60,000 prize went to Tara June Winch for The Yield.

The novel explores the legacy of colonial violence, dispossession, intergenerational trauma and destruction of the natural world. The Chair of the judging panel, Richard Neville said ' In English "yield' signifies what one takes from the land. In Wiradjuri it is "the thing you give to the movement, the space between things: baayanha'. 

Tara June Winch also won Book of the Year at the 2020 NSW Premier's Literary Award for The Yield.

I am normally terrible at predicting who will win these types of prizes, but this year I nailed it having guessed that Winch would win. 

The announcement of the winner is available on YouTube.

Awakening

Against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement more novels are expected to explore sexual violence in an attempt to make sense of what is happening to and for women. Kate Elizabeth Russell's debut novel, My Dark Vanessa (2020), was hotly anticipated in the publishing world and tackles this difficult subject matter in an interesting way. 

The novel is written in the first person, narrated by Vanessa Wye, alternating between two timelines. In 2000 Vanessa is 15 years old at a prestigious boarding school, while in 2017 she is 32 and grappling with her past.

Vanessa grew up as an only child in a fairly traditional New England family. Her parents sent her to boarding school for its educational opportunities. At school, Vanessa meets Jacob Strane, a forty-something English teacher. Strane shows interest in Vanessa and encourages her creative writing. He introduces her to authors like Nabakov, Plath and Edna St Vincent Millay. Vanessa is delighted with Strane's interest, not understanding that she is being groomed by him. She begins a secret relationship with her teacher, cutting ties with her peers, and becoming more and more isolated. When rumours of the relationship reach school authorities, Strane breaks it off and Vanessa retreats home, shattered.   

In 2017, the 32 year old Vanessa is still in touch with Strane. Her life veered off course, having never reached the potential she showed as a teen. She has been unable to settle into a decent job or any regular relationship. When Strane is accused by another young woman, Taylor, of grooming her when she was at school following the same techniques and patterns he used with Vanessa, Vanessa's world closes in on her and she is forced to confront her past.

Russell has crafted an uncomfortable book on an uncomfortable subject. Vanessa is a complex and challenging character who has difficulty in perceiving what was done to her as abuse as she does not want to be victim. Strane is pathetic, rather than creepy. I found it an interesting novel and well worth reading.

Earlier this year I read Lisa Taddeo's Three Women, and My Dark Vanessa very much reminded me of one of the three women, Maggie, and how her relationship with a high school teacher damaged her.