The Sirens
Relationships between sisters, mothers and daughters hold an enduring place in historical novels, and whilst examining similar themes to its predecessor, Weyward, Emilia Hart’s The Sirens expands on the triple-timeframe style to explore female solidarity, legacy, and rage, offset by male dominance and abuse. That said, the novel doesn’t have a strong feminist bent, or if it does, it is gently handled. Finding the beauty within others, and welcoming it in ourselves, is what really spoke to me and made this novel soar.
In 1800, Irish twins Mary and Eliza are transported, with 80+ other women, to the penal colony of New South Wales, on the convict ship Naiad. The months-long voyage is laden with heart-rending detail, pulling the reader deep into the horrendous conditions endured by the convicts on board. In 2019, Lucy leaves university under a cloud of shame, and heads to her estranged sister, Jess’s, clifftop house in Comber Bay. Lucy’s arrival is unexpected, and Jess, a surrealist artist, is missing, although her paintings stand expectantly waiting, along with her car and cell phone. After fruitless efforts to contact her sister, Lucy finds Jess’s diary which holds shocking revelations Lucy knew nothing about. Hart examines Comber Bay’s tragic history through stories of the unexplained disappearances of eight men in the 1960s, ´70s and ´80s and the connections to present and past.
The author’s alluring title, The Sirens, entices us with the combination of mesmerising beauty mixed with mortal danger. Hart skillfully entwines mystical aspects into what could be construed as part-fairytale, but for me, its multiple timeframes and historical settings are firmly grounded. The author admits this was difficult to write, and having spent time within its pages, I can see why. But the outcome of all those discarded drafts is entrancing, and the author should be extremely proud.
