The Visitors

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This is one of my authors as literary agent - and I love, love, love this book with my whole damn heart. Audacious, electric, kismet, clever and downright spectacular. Esme’s memories of her marriage to Alec, her reflection that more time has passed since his death than they spent together, is a poignant reminder of the grief that so many women experienced during and after the First World War; the dreams dashed and the lives changed forever. At one point Esme recalls how she and Alec had vowed to ‘be braver together, travel further, and never be like those couples who sat in disappointed silence’. Now, often all Esme has is that disappointed silence. The characterisation in this book is quite exceptional. Esme herself is enveloped in her sadness – everything about her echoes her loss, the dark colours she wears, her attachment to convention, the solace she finds only in the beauty of nature – but there are glimpses of the independent and vibrant young woman she used to be. Through the course of the book and the unexpected twists and turns of the story, she shows extraordinary strength and resilience and slowly rediscovers that vibrancy and sense of fun – it was a sheer joy to see her blossom once more. But the individuals of Espérance are equally fascinating – their camaraderie forged through the most difficult of times, their separate fragilities hidden beneath their eccentricities, their air of bonhomie and their bohemian lives. I liked that the characters in the book read each other’s body language and are not afraid to mention it, that when at cross purposes they talk about it. Esme’s column in the newspaper grounded me in the here and now whilst also giving valuable insights into the myths, legends, flora and fauna of the landscape.

When we first meet Esme, she is a living a quiet life as a widow who is mourning her husband, their marital home and her imagined future. Spending time in a house with men who fought in the war, and are dealing with their personal battles is an eye opener. If you’ve reached the grand old age of 50 and been educated in Australia, like me, chances are you had very little insight into Aboriginal history and culture during your school years. And if you did, it was likely from a European perspective. I might be generalising, I’m sure there are some amongst you who will have a different story to tell. But while I don’t wish to get too political in a book review, geez this is an important story, particularly for non-indigenous readers, to hear the events of January 26, 1788 told from a different perspective.

The Visitors

But everything is not as idyllic as it seems – a mysterious new arrival later in the summer will turn Esme’s world upside down, and make her question everything she thought she knew about her life, and the people in it.

Eventually Victoria walks off in disgust. Yet the absurdity of the idea keeps returning to her. “Netterden”. That’s what he called the house, and she can remember some of the previous entries in the visitors book too. She decides to follow it up a little. As we go forward, there is almost no break in the noise and darkness pitches about. It rushes and roars around us, and my thoughts no longer form themselves into words. All I know is sensation: the fork of leaping light that leaves an echo behind my eyes, the lurch of the earth beneath my feet, the smell of lyddite and smoke, the sourness of fear in my mouth and the slam of sound that is so very much more than a drumroll."The connection with nature is there again as you read about his experiences in the war - at times it feels like they're on a birdwatching break, but it cleverly shows that by them noticing the nature around them, helps them to cope with the brutality of war that they are facing on a daily basis. It makes them feel more human - they're just young men who have been sent off to be part of something so horrific and totally alien to the normal side of human behaviour. Watching the local wildlife helps them detach.