As her Women’s prize-winning novel heads to the Oscars, we rate the author’s best work – from tales of new motherhood to a life-affirming memoir of mortality
The ghost of a previous lover is always a challenge, particularly if you (mistakenly) believe that she’s actually dead. This is the unenviable situation for Lily, the protagonist of O’Farrell’s second novel, who is swept off her feet by dashing architect Marcus and in short order moves in with him. Lily takes his assurances that her predecessor Sinead is “no longer with us” to mark a more permanent absence; in fact, Sinead has simply been thrown over, and it is in the details of the collapse of her relationship with Marcus that the novel most engages. Hints of the gothic ghost story deepen one of the main takeaways, which is that Marcus consists almost entirely of red flags.
Heritage and belonging drive much of O’Farrell’s fiction, and the gradual release of information to her readers often propels her narratives. She’s also interested in journeys both literal and figurative, and begins this novel in Hong Kong, where celebrations to mark the Chinese New Year are disrupted by sudden, dangerous mayhem. Meanwhile, a woman on a bridge in London glimpses a familiar face and takes this as her cue to leave the country. These dramatic events make little initial sense, but it’s the contrast between the immediate isolation of the characters and their complex and densely populated backgrounds that draws us in.
