Lioness (Emily Perkins, Bloomsbury)

Thirty years ago, Therese married Trevor Thorne, a wealthy businessman twice her age. Now middle-aged, she continues to enjoy a life of privilege, running a successful luxury homewares business and playing high-society wife to Trevor. But when Trevor comes under investigation for serious fraud, the insular standards by which she lives—‘Wanting things was the engine that ran me’—start to lose their validity. At the same time, Therese becomes increasingly drawn to her brash and wilful neighbour Claire, who has begun to shrug traditional gendered and domestic obligations in search of a more authentic way of being. Claire’s apartment becomes a place of release and joyful liberation where anything goes. As Therese allows herself to be consumed by Claire and her vision, a kind of personal rewilding ensues, with darkly funny and moving consequences. The third novel by Women’s Prize-longlisted author Emily Perkins, Lioness is a bold, exuberant and illuminating exploration of identity that exposes the chasm between what one believes and how one actually lives. Perkins’s writing is exquisite, her observations so strikingly acute and original they will make you gasp. Yet her descriptive powers never detract from the action, which is spontaneous and constantly surprising. Lioness will appeal to readers of Tessa Hadley and Rachel Yoder and is already my book of the year.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Jacqui Davies is a freelance writer and reviewer based in South Australia. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Category: Reviews