Consent
Ratings4
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings4
Average rating3.5
A smart, mysterious and heartbreaking novel centred on two sets of sisters whose lives are braided together when tragedy changes them forever. From the award-winning author of The Golden Mean. Saskia and Jenny are twins who are alike only in appearance. Saskia is a hard-working grad student whose interests are solely academic, while Jenny, an interior designer, is glamourous, thrill-seeking, capricious and narcissistic. Still, when Jenny is severely injured in an accident, Saskia puts her life on hold to be with her sister. Sara and Mattie are sisters with a difficult relationship. Mattie, the younger sister, is affectionate, curious and intellectually disabled. As soon as Sara is able, she leaves home, in pursuit of a life of the mind and the body: she loves nothing more than fine wines, sensual perfumes, and expensive clothing. But when their mother dies, Sara inherits the duty of caring for her sister. Arriving at the house one day, she finds out that Mattie has married Robert, her wealthy mother's handyman. Though Mattie seems happy, Sara cannot let this go, forcing the annulment of the marriage and the banishment of Robert. With him out of the picture, though, she has no choice but to become her sister's keeper, sacrificing her own happiness and Mattie's too. When Robert turns up again, another tragedy happens. The waves from these events eventually engulf Sara and Saskia, sisters in mourning, in a quest for revenge. Consent is a startling, moving, thought-provoking novel on the complexities of familial duty and on how love can become entangled with guilt, resentment and regret.
Reviews with the most likes.
I'm not quite sure what to make of this book. Some interesting themes and ideas here but none of it feels grounded. An odd read indeed. Not bad, just odd.
I mean it starts out as a story of family. Saskia is the frumpy, studious one, her twin Jenny the wild child narcissist. Meanwhile we have Sara, the sensual academic, caring for her mentally delayed sister Mattie. It's the push and pull of family and the love and labour between these sisters. But then tragedy visits both families and suddenly we're veering into unexpected territory. The sleepy interiority of familial musings turns into a mystery that leans into thriller.
Lyon is having a blast here keeping the reader guessing. It's an erudite K-drama that isn't afraid to take sharp left turns. You never know where you're going to end up and given the distance of time and reflection it's frankly wild how it managed to hold itself together. A Coles Notes version of this book with names and places stripped away would read like the plot of a modern day Telenovela. What can I say, I like me some literary crazy.
