I sought out Daughters of Jerusalem having enjoyed Charlotte Mendelson's third novel When We Were Bad.
Although the two novels differ substantially; in location, plot and characterisation, the underlying themes are just as focused on the dysfunctional family, of people not turning out to be quite as they seemed, and of the harrowing consequences as the truth begins to unfold.
The story takes place in Oxford, focusing on the family of a college Don and his two, quite different, daughters. There is Eve, studious and academically brilliant yet insecure, and Phoebe, a 'normal' child in a world of excessive abilities and intellect. Phoebe hides the crushing pain of perceived inadequacy behind a manipulative zeal to obtain ever more luxurious material goods. Eve merely runs away to her room. To study... and to cut herself. Their father seems largely lost in his studies and an all consuming rivalry with his academic colleague, a rivalry that will take the most dramatic of turns, and amidst it all is his wife, Jean Lux.
Jean Lux is tired. Tired of Oxford and all that it stands for:
She is sick of navy-blue corduroy, Gothic arches, famous fig-trees, shabby dons' wives, cellars, rivers, genius children, stuttering and gold leaf. It is your fault, she thinks, approaching her husband's college, as she glimpses her neighbour, an entirely silent botanist, attempting to untangle his own beard from a hawthorn tree. None of you are normal. Is normal. And I am.
As the novel unfolds Jean realises just what it is she is tired of and who and what it will take to breathe life back into her weary existence.
Daughters of Jerusalem tackles dark, serious taboos - sex with a minor, self harm, lesbianism - but does so with a perfectly wrought comic edge. Art mirrors life in that, in amongst the tragedies and soul-searching, the daily grind dominates and in the minutiae of everyday life there is much that is funny, much that is dull and dreary and much that is plain annoying.
Communication, mis-communication and manipulation are strong themes and they support a plot that is full of genuine surprise, It speaks volumes for Mendelson's skill as a writer that the novel manages to feel thoroughly action packed whilst leaving times for such slow and stilted dialogue as this:
'I' they both say.
'Go on then.'
'No,' says Helena suspiciously. 'You go on.'
'I don't want you to think-'
'I don't,' Helena interrupts.
As in When We Were Bad the novels builds gradually towards realisation, of reversals of role and fortunes and then suddenly everything seems to happen at one, small seeds of awareness blossom and then, all at once, burst forth and then, all too soon, it is over and you are left wishing for more. This is one of the best books I have read in a while, thoroughly recommended.
More, more, more....
Two contrasting opinions from blog reviewers at Bookish Ramblings and Litlove
Press reviews in The Guardian and The Independent
An interview with Charlotte Mendelson on Tanita Tikaram's blog and, finally, an article in which Mendelson considers why writing and reading about dysfunctional families is so satisfying.
