Source : the age
Here, in all its glory, is the intense poetic imagination of Maria Takolander constructing a disturbing novel, a kind of complex violent legend, set in the dystopia of a planet that appears to have no future. Suspense is a key ingredient in romantic fiction, and while the very title The End of Romance plays against type, this novel is compelling and chilling as it sings its way towards its resolution.
Where will it all end? There is an understanding that humans will leave home to conquer a distant planet, the Promised Land, and the biblical resonance of this murmurs across the tale. The text is divided into four “books”, the second one being a report from a woman named Eeva who is on Mission One into space with a man named Adan. Just the two of them. They appeared in the ruined city in Book One, and they have been chosen by the Company because their parents are dead and they have no children. They are “pure” and “carrying the flag for humankind”. They have been trained to want “nothing to do with sex”. Spoiler alert.
The prose and the imagery are compelling and vivid, with a glittering edge of wit, wisdom and compassion. There is an insistent auditory element that colours the action. The grandfather clock goes “nlock, nlock” and the kitchen wall clock goes “nt nt”. There is a constant reference to time, which, for the planet, is running out, and no romantic fable is going to save it.
The first book introduces the principal character, Marianna, a young woman with a son whose father remains mysterious. A hideous man named the Captain teaches the woman much of what she knows. Marianna, in the process of stealing a picture of a horse, kills a dog whose owner is Josif. An uncomfortable trio, composed of the woman, her son and Josif, is formed. Deciding to escape the surrounding horrors, the three characters head for a monastery in the mountains where Josif once lived.
Book Three follows them on this journey. The ruined, unnamed land could be Australia. The cities are trashed, broken, rusty – and weeds such as teddy-bear cholla and sow thistles ramble through the rubble, their prickles catching on everything that moves. They discover a railway line and set off together along the tracks in a handcar. (Although the words are not used, it is impossible not to think of “going to hell in a handcart”.) Desert stretches away on the edges of what was civilisation. A stinking fog hangs over everything.
The boy, who should be in military school, is disguised as a girl to avoid detection. He carries a bag of the books he loves to read. These include classic works from other worlds, such as Alice in Wonderland and The Chronicles of Narnia. They all have heavy backpacks and sleeping bags. The woman carries bottles of water as well as a torch, a watch, saucepans and a rifle. The man has a walking stick, a keyring with a picture of a pope on it and a bible. He loses the keyring in the sand. They lose their way, cross the desert, and instead of reaching the sanctuary of the monastery, they come to the sea.
Book Four, written by the boy, consists of “Gospels For Young Readers”. In a makeshift cubby on the seashore, the boy begins to read the bible. He opens it at Luke 1:31 and learns, yet does not comprehend, of the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary. He wishes that the three of them might be by the sea “forever & ever please God Sweet Jesus let it be Amen”. Here endeth this eerily thrilling novel.
The End of Romance by Maria Takolander is published on June 30 by Text ($35).
Carmel Bird’s most recent novel is Crimson Velvet Heart.
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