Review of The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey
Rating: (3.5 out of 5)
#QOTD: Have you ever read a book because it’s won a prestigious book prize?
That’s what I did with this book - and I don’t regret it. It was eye-opening, challenging and I recommend it to anyone who may want to see the extent to which love can drive one to ruin if left unchecked.
Synopsis:
This story follows the protagonist Catherine Gehrig, who is a conservator at the Swinburne Museum in London. Her married lover, Matthew Tindall and her work colleague dies suddenly and she is left behind grieving her loss in secret. The manager, Eric Croft (who was also a friend of Matthew) discloses to her that he knew of their secret relationship, and tasks her with a project to put together an intricate clock in a separate area in the museum to allow her time to grief in private and work at her own pace. As she begins to try to put together this new piece, Catherine slowly begins to glue together her broken pieces. Her grief dissipates as the story progresses and she gets drawn into the project. When she discovers diary entries written on old fading paper inside one of the containers that came with the clock she sneaks them home to read and so the journey begins.
Thoughts:
This book is set in two time periods and follows both in parallel. It dealt with the rather complex issue of extra-marital relationships, sudden loss, grief, loneliness and finally the beginning stages of healing. The book switches between two time periods and two main characters: the present-day view with Catherine, her grief and how she is trying to piece things together using this project and the past - with Henry Brandling, the man who originally commissioned the clock to be made. Both characters have their demons to fight, and both desperately want this piece to work.
The story is tragic, and I often found myself hoping desperately for a happy ending or something to lighten the mood but in the end, it was good to sit with those heavier emotions and reflect on the circumstances as they played out.
It was well-written, but not my usual taste of book. I would read it again though because it challenged me. Life is not always roses and happy times, and being drawn into the raw emotions of the main characters had me thinking deeply about life, ambition, love, relationships and what boundaries I would cross, and what hoops I would jump through to show how much I care for someone.
Title: The Chemistry of Tears
Author: Peter Carey
Publishing House: faber and faber
Pages: 271
Price in SA: ZAR155 from takealot.co.za
