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Monday, 26 March 2012
ANALYSIS OF NOVELS 2012 THE CONTROL FREAK CHRONICLES
THE CONTROL FREAK CHRONICLES Protagonist Helena Treadwell Helena Treadwell is well named. She does ‘tread well’ and very carefully, but she’s about to follow a different path, one that will lead her in a different direction, to move two steps back before she is able to move forward. This is the only novel I have written where an author’s note is included to explain my reason for writing. The issue of control freakery is often seen as an issue of non importance – a bit like snobbery. Something to be laughed at and not taken seriously because it doesn’t ‘harm’ any one. But control freakery is emotional abuse and in writing the book I wanted to focus on all aspects of emotional abuse whether it be by the establishment (church, media, city, government) or by those who should be close to you and of support (parents, partners, friends). The protagonist is Helena, who is a successful radio presenter and who has a young son, living in the sea side town in which she grew up. She has effectively ‘taken control’ of her life, moving on after an acrimonious divorce – a constant theme in Ms Tucker’s novels (!). She has friends, family and acquaintances and then her life appears to fall apart. She loses her job, her ex moves to the area with the other woman, and her father dies. Facing challenges she finds the path she takes lead her to find strength and opportunity. The theme in this novel as in my other novels is how when doors seem to close and control is lost, other doors open and other opportunities are created. Indeed it is Helena’s understanding she has more control over her life now when she loses her job, as this increases her clarity – (similar to the understanding or awakening of Sarah Giles in LYOBS and LYOBM). Helena is made aware of ‘realities’ and different people experiencing different realities of the same incident. Therefore what is ‘reality’? (This is a theme I develop to a conclusion in my latest novel COUNTING DOWN TO TEN). The concept of ‘reality’ and what is reality is a focus of the novel as the program on which Helena works is a ‘reality show’ of her home town. Ironically the exec producer Elliot Sterling, wants to manipulate the reality (distort it) for his purposes so the ‘reality show’ is nothing of the sort. Helena is always seeking truth, about herself and from others. It is her fear that prevents her from doing so, and once she overcomes her fear, she is able to create a reality for herself that she believes in. Helena perceives herself as being controlled by events and others around her, when really the only one holding her back and controlling her is her own fear, the mind sets she has learnt as a child (she was loved conditionally by her mother and consequently feels all relationships are conditional), and she has to unlearn this, learn to trust again and ‘enjoy’, which she does when she meets Jarred, the ‘director’ who literally helps her along her path. The relationship she has with her father is interesting. He sees her as his little girl but it is his death which allows her to confront many fears in her life, having dealt with one trauma she puts other issues into perspective and is able to deal with all of them, literally all at once (within a few chapters). By showing compassion and courage (with her mother, with Eliot, with Leonard) she takes control by letting go. The male characters within the novel are, with a few exceptions, conveyed as either bullying and weak (Eliot, Leonard) or insipid and well meaning (Peter, the TV croanies). Even Jarred is understated, used as a foil to show Helena she has done well and is on the right path. And that in learning to trust herself and her own judgement, she will begin to trust others again. In many ways, being confronted with the lies others wish to perpetuate (Leonard with his lifestyle and friends and ‘good father’ image) and Eliot (the reality show), she is able to gain strength and decide to focus on what she is able to live with – her intregrity intact. What happens to the other characters is irrelevant, her concern is for happiness and that of her son Frederick.
NOVEL ANALYSIS 2012 THE LAST YEAR OF BEING MARRIED
THE LAST YEAR OF BEING MARRIED Protagonist Sarah Giles The ‘sliding doors’ proposition. What if Sarah Giles had said ‘yes’ when she was asked in the church if she wished to marry Paul? The novel is what happens if Sarah Giles does not trust to her instinct and goes with the flow of others ‘pleasing’. She marries Paul O’Brien. What Sarah anticipates in the relationship on her wedding day comes to pass. Her husband Paul meets someone else and decides he wants out of the marriage. Sarah is again isolated but this time finds support from places she least expects – friends of Paul’s, a clairvoyant, her business contacts rather than her close friends and those whom she felt she could rely on. She also finds love and friendship in places she would have least expected – their mutual friend Joe, who is many ways better suited to her than her husband was, her barrister, Jeremy, the guy trying to sell her a new mini, Steve, the gardener, Simon and even, hilariously her husband’s work colleague, Pierce. All of these are credible relationships, especially as Sarah’s vulnerability and strength come to the fore and these men see her for who she really is rather than who Paul has painted her as. She becomes her own person with her own voice. She also finds herself with choice. Does she try to fight, or does she go? Does she marry the first man she has a relationship with (which is what everyone expects her to do) or does she hold out for the relationship she really wants to perfect – that with herself. The relationship between Paul and Sarah is complex. The character of Paul is obtuse and mean spirited. He tries to emotionally wear her down, by going on holiday with the other woman just before Christmas, by buying Christmas presents with her, by abusing the counselling process timing his announcement of the affair and the proposed holiday to do ultimate damage and humiliation and weaken Sarah’s resolve. Indeed, it is only the intervention of Paul’s father, that Paul agrees to leave the marital home. There is inference although Paul’s mother sees no wrong in her son, his father does. Paul is obtuse as a personality and Sarah has to find ways to deal with and ultimately live with this vagueness. “It is like talking to a window’, she says at one point, and ‘an alien’ at another. Indeed it’s the first thing she says in the novel, but she has been deluded by Paul since she first met him. They have always had poor communication (not being able to discuss lack of sex, the terminations, lots of ‘taboo’ subjects) and she has been living with someone she has not been able to effectively communicate with for a very long time –even before her marriage. Sarah has always been living with ‘an alien’, now she has woken to the fact she is. Initially Sarah deals with it by escaping the home – travelling – in much the same way her father dealt with her mother – by always working late, leaving Sarah to deal with the issues of her mother. Paul chooses another woman who is also called ‘Sarah’. This is an intriguing and telling choice. Paul chooses someone with the same name, literally and perhaps unintentionally denoting he has directly replaced the wife Sarah. The point is not lost on his wife, but there is also a subliminal message. By choosing another ‘Sarah’ he is choosing another woman he is able to control or confuse (Paul would never chose someone he could not control). It also becomes apparent the ‘other Sarah’ does not like the fact his wife has the same name as her which signifies insecurities (every time he says my name is he thinking about the mother of his child?). Paul is a calculating character (moving the bottles of expensive wine out of the house and taking the files long before the ‘announcement is made’ anticipating back lash well in advance). Has he been planning his exit for a long time? Has he had many affairs? And if so, for how long and how many is never hinted upon or recognised in the novel, so Sarah is unaware if the other ‘Sarah’ is one of many or has been going on for a long time. The reader is left guessing as to Paul’s length of infidelity and also how many women he has been unfaithful with. (intriguingly when men read this novel they always believe Paul has had many affairs which he has kept hidden from Sarah. Women always believe he has been unfaithful only the once). Sarah Giles throughout feels the guilty party and Paul perpetuates this, expecting Sarah to crumble, although not anticipating the attempted suicide on Christmas Day. He cries but not for her, but for himself. Sarah does not behave or react how Paul anticipates and she ultimately proves herself much more independent, strong and resilient than he had hoped. Sarah finds strength in adversity and also in being a strong mother to Ben and finding and making a new home for herself in England and France. Sarah is able to be financially and emotionally independent and ground herself so she can be the strong mother she wants to be for Ben. The romances are incidental and she realises a man does not make her happy – she makes her happy. How is this ‘Sarah Giles’ different to the one in LYOBS? Sarah has become a mother which has given her purpose and focus but she feels unnatural in the relationship with Paul. Both Paul and herself expect the relationship to work without needing to work at it – a common issue in first and young marriages. There is resentment on both sides, both unarticulated but expressed in different ways. Sarah Giles does not mature until the bullit of Paul’s affair becomes apparent. When she tells him, it as though she has been shot. There is physical pain as well as emotional and spiritual but it is as awakening drawing to her those who have a connection with her she would not have realised otherwise. She writes poetry, she finds work, she makes not one, but two homes. She finds strength she never realised she had. She finds a spiritual path to follow she would not have done if she had stayed with Paul. Or would she? Should she have waited it out? What would Paul have done? Continued to emotionally beat her down? Why was he surprised when she asked for a divorce settlement? The questions are left for the reader to answer because it is irrelevant to the plot line. What is relevant is Sarah’s growth as a woman, learning she is capable when those around her thought her not so, and surprising not only Paul, her mother, and some of her closest friends, but ultimately herself. She gains her voice and direction when she is alone. She becomes ‘all one’ when she finds herself ‘al one’. She is happy with what she has achieved at the end of the novel, and is with Jeremy, but is not happy because she is with Jeremy. It’s a happy ever after with a woman who has a happy relationship with herself – she has achieved what she set out to do in LYOBS.
ANALYSIS OF NOVELS 2012 THE LAST YEAR OF BEING SINGLE
THE LAST YEAR OF BEING SINGLE Protagonist Sarah Giles Sarah Giles is a lively, curious, open, occasionally stupid, fun loving girl who wants to please. She’s a romantic and every woman. LYOBS is a story of a woman who wants to be authentic but does not know who she is, Sarah Giles is an every woman wanting to please everyone but not knowing how to please herself. Sarah has been brought up as a people pleaser. She pleases her boyfriend, she pleases her lover, she pleases her mother, her friends. She is there for everyone except herself She tries to escape one ‘trap’ as she perceives it, and finds herself being trapped, or creating a trap in another situation. She strives to be authentic but finds herself increasingly lying to all those around her, only being able to open up (a little) to strangers she meets (at the wedding) or those she is not directly related to (her massage therapist). She is a romantic but also a realist and realises something is not ‘wrong’ with a situation where everyone is telling her it is perfect She does not feel it is perfect for her. As the book progresses, the reader realises it is not perfect for her either, that neither man – the ‘solid’ Paul, who is emotionally damaged a sociopath who has no understanding of his actions, (forbidding sex, not allowing Sarah to explore and confront the issue) or himself for that matter, and John ‘the cowboy lover’ who is an opportunist and whom Sarah never allows to become close because she perceives him as others do as an amoral womanizer. The book does not develop this character so the reader is left to decide if John is indeed a womanizer and only wants what he cannot have (as Sarah tells him at the end) or he has genuinely changed his ways (how romantic novels would have us believe). The irony of the character is that although she lies to everyone, she never lies to herself. She tries to convince herself of facts – that she loves Paul, that she loves John, that she must leave John, that she must marry Paul, but her feelings of what is instinctively right for her never betray her, although she literally does leave it to the last page and the last moment to confront the issue. She is an authentic character who deals with very real issues (terminations) by herself. There’s a strong hint of naivety to her throughout the book. She is raped by her fiancĂ©e, not realising it is rape. She writes about it in her diary in graphic detail as something she will never tell anyone about, not realising it is rape. She is aware John is a womanizer but is not sure if his acts are of one that likes her or loathes her. So the reader realises Sarah is a woman who is learning about herself through the relationships with others and actually does learn. She is surrounded by those who do not – Catherine who is still with her lover and boyfriend, but cannot make a decision which one to be with. Her massage therapist is unhappily married but stays in the relationship to ‘punish her husband’ not realising it’s punishing her as well. And so Sarah has no examples to show her how to behave Sarah importantly does not have a wise woman, a confident whom she completely trusts or knows the whole story- because no one knows the whole story in life, they only know part of it and only judge on their own experiences rather than that of the person they are advising. Sarah instinctively knows this. As for possible confidents, her mother is in denial her daughter is entering into a relationship with a man who has serious psychological issues – but because he is financially sound – she balances this as more important – due to her own needs (she perceives Sarahs’ father did not provide for them sufficiently and she wants her daughter to be ‘provided for’). This is also a very common theme for mothers and daughters although this is no longer the Victorian era! The terminations are dealt with swiftly but powerfully in the novel, made more so by the simplicity. Sarah deals with them by herself. Her stance is very much ‘my body, my decision’, and realising the impact the first termination has on Paul, she does not want to go through the same issues with John. Although she is accompanied by Paul the first time he is not ‘supportive’ of her and isolates and betrays her by his actions following the termination (no sex). He betrays her but Sarah never perceives it this way. Her actions are taken not out of revenge but in an attempt to ‘please herself’. (ironically Paul shows her how to literally ‘please herself’ by showing her how to masturbate). A part from this, Sarah learns to please herself by standing back and realising who she is, gaining a voice and sense of identity, identifying clearly what she wants out of life and what she doesn’t want. And ultimately she learns that the most important thing is to learn to love herself. When she does so, she will be able to love someone else. But her priority is to know and love herself. The priority of all young women whether they intend to marry or not
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