Springtime
A Ghost Story
Michelle de Kretser
- “This
- is
- a
- gorgeous,
- delicately
- surprising
- piece
- of
- writing.
- .
- .
- .
- It's
- like
- spirit
- photography,
- all
- fuzzy
- outlines
- and
- unaccountable
- light:
- a
- snapshot
- of
- something
- that
- may
- or
- may
- not
- exist.”
- —Terrence
- Rafferty,
- The
- New
- York
- Times
- Book
- ReviewWhen
- Frances
- met
- Charlie
- at
- a
- party
- in
- Melbourne,
- he
- was
- married
- with
- a
- young
- son.
- Now
- that
- the
- couple
- has
- moved
- to
- subtropical
- Sydney,
- a
- lusher
- and
- more
- chaotic
- city,
- Frances
- has
- an
- unshakable
- sense
- that
- the
- world
- has
- tipped
- on
- its
- axis.
- Everything
- seems
- alien,
- and
- exotic—and
- Frances
- is
- haunted
- by
- the
- unknowability
- of
- Charlie's
- previous
- life.
- A
- young
- art
- historian
- studying
- the
- objects
- in
- paintings––the
- material
- world––Frances
- takes
- mind–clearing
- walks
- around
- her
- neighborhood
- with
- her
- dog.
- Behind
- the
- fence
- of
- one
- garden,
- she
- thinks
- she
- sees
- a
- woman
- in
- an
- old–fashioned
- gown,
- but
- something
- is
- not
- right.
- It's
- as
- if
- the
- garden
- exists
- in
- a
- vacuum
- suspended
- in
- time,
- "at
- an
- angle
- to
- life."Springtime
- is
- a
- ghost
- story
- that
- doesn't
- conform
- to
- the
- genre's
- traditions
- of
- dark
- and
- stormy
- nights,
- graveyards
- and
- ruins.
- It
- breaks
- new
- ground
- by
- unfolding
- in
- sunny,
- suburban
- Australia,
- and
- the
- realism
- of
- the
- characters
- and
- events
- make
- the
- story's
- ambiguities
- and
- eeriness
- all
- the
- more
- disquieting.
- The
- richness
- of
- observation
- here
- is
- immediately
- recognizable
- as
- Michelle
- de
- Kretser's,
- a
- writer
- who
- has
- been
- praised
- by
- Hilary
- Mantel
- as
- a
- master
- of
- ""the
- sharp,
- almost
- hallucinatory detail."
pro-mbooks3 : libris
