Private Rites has been pitched as a queer King Lear at the end of the world and that rings true in this bleak, blistering and brilliant book. It combines an intimate unravelling of grief and relationships from fractured characters with a ecological disaster looming on the horizon.
As expected from anything drawing on King Lear, this is a book deeply focused on the family and dysfunctional, tangled relationships within it. Isla, Irene and Agnes are the three central sisters, each with their own nuances and complexities. There is also a shadow of grief upon them—the recent death of their father unravels a web of lies and secrets long buried. Tangible among them is the resounding impact of Isla and Irene’s mother many years ago. Their trauma from this lies unresolved and rears itself again in unexpected ways for each of them. This book really grapples with the question of inheritance: inherited trauma, secrets and the concept of a legacy. In particular, that last theme comes into sharper focus against an impending ecological disaster where the futility of it all is laid bare. There is no legacy to have in a world wracked by horror.
I really enjoyed the way grief distorted aspects of themselves differently as they grappled with their individual problems and relationships. They are messy people but feel all the more human for it. The queer representation is also wonderful to see and there is a spectrum of experiences depicted here too. Armfield is very much concerned with the ripplings of time and emotions, shown in a narrative that does not always stay with the linear. It is unsettling in its uncanny playfulness with time. From the very first page, you are pushed off kilter and never fully return. There is such a strong sense of dread and foreboding that you cannot shake—it clings to you in a dreary fog. All the while, the storm rages outside.
Armfield’s writing has this intangible quality that sticks to you like glue. It is mercurial and mysterious, constantly shifting beneath your fingers. I find her writing irresistibly beautiful but with a distinct sense of uneasiness that lingers. It is crafted impeccably with exquisite and interesting word choices and overall this lyrical quality that adds a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere to the narratives. There is something magical about it but in the sense of the old magic, the one with bite and blood attached to it. The darkness of humanity and the impossibility of stopping the oncoming storm are imbued into every page. It adds this sense of hopelessness, an awareness that we’re doomed to repeat the same narrative over and over again. The prose is just delectable with such a fragile heart to it that sinks into oblivion cast against the horror you can see coming. Here it is also porous, seeping through into your skin and affecting your perspective. Armfield cleverly disengages you from the narrative you may know and replaces it with something entirely different. It still feels very much like a Shakespearean tragedy with the monumental scale and repercussions, but also stays focused on these flawed characters as they take centre stage.
There is a creeping sense of dread that informs every page and sinks into your skin. The horror in this book is in the mundanity of life continuing against a horrific ecological crisis beautifully illustrated by the excerpts of the point of view of The City. Here we get a bird’s eye view of impending doom contrasted by the pops of light and life of people. It makes for an unbearable tragedy and yet we can do nothing to stop what we know is coming. Armfield is poignant in this messaging, made all the more realistic by contemporary attitudes to climate change and other political movements. There is a sense of apathy that drains characters and makes them powerless chess pieces in a grander game that they cannot envision. Other angles of this come into play in the final sequence in a way that simultaneously answers many questions I had throughout reading and raises many more. This is not a book that will easily crack open and release its secrets, it is one where you will have to wade in yourself to piece it all together.
Private Rites is hands down one of my favourite reads of the year so far.
Private Rites is available from Amazon, Waterstones, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of June 11th 2024.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
The bestselling author of Our Wives Under the Sea returns with a stunning, unsettling novel following three sisters navigating queer love and faith at the end of the world.
It’s been raining for a long time now, for so long that the lands have reshaped themselves and the cities have retreated to higher storeys. Old places have been lost. Arcane rituals and religions have crept back into practice.
Sisters Isla, Irene and Agnes have not spoken in some time when their estranged father dies. A famous architect revered for making the new world navigable, he had long cut himself off from public life. They find themselves uncertain of how to grieve his passing when everything around them seems to be ending anyway.
As the sisters come together to clear the grand glass house that is the pinnacle of his legacy, they begin to sense that the magnetic influence of their father lives on through it. Soon it becomes clear that others have also taken an interest in both his estate and in them, and that perhaps their inheritance may not be theirs alone.
