Gail Jones is one of Australia’s most celebrated writers, having won many prestigious awards. Her latest novel is a shining example of her consummate skills.
Helen, described as ‘almost entirely unmodern’, is a doctoral student at Cambridge in 1992. Originally from Tasmania, she’s struggling to finish her thesis on Joseph Conrad. She is disturbed by the incipient violence she discerns in her boyfriend, Justin, and grieving for her late father. Tormented by the mysterious disappearance of an embryonic manuscript and obsessed by Conrad, her life begins breaking up into bewildering fragments.
In trying to sift from ‘the vast mass’ of history, remembrance, loss and disillusionment, she becomes unmoored. She increasingly surrendering all sense of agency – giving-up or, to reflect Conrad’s life, jumping ship, that will have grievous consequences.
Lost manuscripts are an intriguing theme of the book. Helen, in regretting her own, is reminded of the many other writers before her. This includes Conrad, whose manuscripts suffered the same fate. Nothing could be more egregious for a writer than this, like losing part of oneself.
In this book Jones is exploring what’s become a familiar theme for her, our search for meaning, both in our own lives and through story. The narrative veers, seemingly randomly, between Helen’s intense inner landscape and the broader canvas, both imagined and learned of Conrad’s life. The seamless integration between these two perspectives is achieved by the absence of chapter divisions or any clear indications of a shift in time and place. At first this is disconcerting, but proves an effective device for the kind of metafictional interweaving the story relies upon.
Reviewed by Anne Green
Read a book review of Salonika Burning by Gail Jones
Listen to a podcast with Gail Jones about her book, Salonika Burning
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gail Jones is one of Australia’s most celebrated writers. She is the author of two short-story collections and nine novels, and her work has been translated into several languages and has received numerous literary awards. Originally from Western Australia, she now lives in Sydney.
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