What is it that makes us human? Is it our biological make-up, our bodies, our emotions or our memories? This question is examined by author Emily Spurr in her latest novel, Beatrix & Fred, a funny and moving novel that defies conventional tropes and genres.
Stepping into the realm of speculative fiction, we follow characters Beatrix and Fred as their lives intersect.
Beatrix is a lonely woman who is struggling with depression. We see how Beatrix, isolated with only one friend, turns to alcohol for escape. Her life is quickly unravelling and her antisocial and reckless behaviour escalating.
When Fred, an elderly, quirky woman, notices Beatrix standing incredibly close to the edge of a train platform, she pulls her back. What follows is a strange turn of events. Fred becomes transfixed with Beatrix and begins stalking her – from moving objects around in her apartment to appearing across from her in a train carriage – a strange game of cat-and-mouse transpires.
The story alternates between their perspectives, allowing us to gradually understand Fred’s motivations and her unusual fascination with Beatrix. It’s evident from the beginning that Fred isn’t quite who you think she is – and when Beatrix’s only friend, Ray, ends up in the hospital – we learn that Fred is indeed, something else entirely.
This an incredibly strange novel but in the best way possible. I found myself laughing along with the characters and their banter. Beatrix with her grim and dark outlook is perfectly complemented by Fred and her quirkiness and wisdom.
As the novel unfolds, Fred reveals herself to Beatrix and appeals to her for help with a heavy task. This forces Beatrix to make some difficult choices. Spurr has done a wonderful job at making an almost impossible situation feel entirely plausible.
I was especially moved by Beatrix and Fred’s newfound friendship and love.
Spurr has woven a beautiful story that ultimately provokes both Beatrix and the reader to question what it truly means to be human.
Reviewed by Akina Hansen
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE AUTHOROriginally from Tasmania, Emily lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her partner, their twins and the ghost of a deaf, geriatric cat.
Emily Spurr’s first novel, A Million Things, was shortlisted for the prestigious Victorian Premier’s Unpublished Manuscript Prize, voted BookBrowse Best Debut Novel of 2021, long-listed for the 2022 Margaret & Collin Roderick Literary Award and Highly Commended for the 2022 Barbara Jefferis Award. It has been published in Australasia, North America, Europe, the UK, China and Taiwan.
Beatrix & Fred is Emily’s second novel (released September 2023).
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