Elsewhere in Success

October 30, 2012

This debut novel is set in a suburb called Success; here the protagonists Harry and Louisa are floundering. This middle-aged couple are—both separately and together—coming to terms with the failures and traumas in their lives. Both have reached a point where past transgressions and pains will no longer stay buried. Harry and Louisa are preoccupied with closeness, and while they struggle with the ups and downs of their own relationship, this need for intimacy manifests itself most strongly in their relationships with their children. Before they can move forward they must face the past, as their own buried secrets are unearthed with a rusty lawn mower from the yard. Iris Lavell has captured a sense of suburban banality, undercut with a history of violence and loss that weighs down simple actions such as placing a garden ornament in the yard. Switching between Harry and Louisa’s perspectives is an effective way to demonstrate how close and yet how distant the pair is, both from each other and from their ideas of success, or more basically, contentment. It is satisfying to feel some measure of progress from them and by the same token, it will be interesting to see what Lavell produces next.

Portia Lindsay is a former bookseller who now works at the NSW Writers’ Centre