Hailed as a remarkable new literary talent, Sarah Sasson has written a debut novel rich with humanity and compassion. Her medical training has informed her perceptive examination of addiction and mental illness and the havoc both can wreak on families of the afflicted.
Tidelines is a coming-of age-story narrated by Grub. This is a nickname given to her by her adored older brother Elijah, whose tragic story is the impetus for Grub’s revelations.
Set in Sydney in the early 2000s, the novel opens with Grub and Elijah. They are revelling in an idyllic summer of surfing, swimming and hanging out together at the beach. Until Zed comes along.
Zed is from a troubled family background. From the outset it’s obvious his influence over Elijah will prove toxic. An uneasy three-way relationship develops, where Grub’s ambivalent feelings towards Zed are overshadowed by a sense of presentiment that he will derail everything.
As the narrative unfolds and Zed introduces Elijah to drugs, the musical career for which Elijah seemed destined unravels, as does his relationship with his family.
Grub becomes increasingly entangled in Elijah’s spiralling descent. This explodes into full-blown addiction and mental illness, to the point where she’s ready to renunciate her own life plans.
An impressive debut which explores the devastating effects of loss and family breakdown with compelling sensitivity. My only concern is the prologue, which effectively reveals Elijah’s fate and, as a result, makes the outcome of the story too predictable.
Reviewed by Anne Green
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Sasson is an Australian physician-writer living on Gadigal land in Sydney. She completed a B.Arts (English) / B.Science at the University of New South Wales. This was followed by a B.Medicine/B.Surgery at Sydney University and has spent time living overseas in Chicago, Singapore, Montreal, Hanoi and Oxford.
Her poetry, short stories and non-fiction have been published in Australia, the United Kingdom and USA appearing in various publications including Meanjin, Oncology Republic, Grieve Anthology, Medium and Orris Root.
Sarah’s debut literary fiction novel Tidelines was shortlisted for the Varuna House Publisher Introduction Program. It was also longlisted for the Queensland Writers’ Centre Publishable Program.
Her work explores themes including: human relationships, loss, memory, medicine and biology.
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