Book Review: Enter the mysterious La Maison de Méduse in Mona Awad’s Rouge

Mirabelle, shortened to the rather more beauty-adjacent ‘Belle’, has left the Montreal snow for the California sun, returning to manage the affairs of her recently deceased mother, Noelle. She’s expecting an emotional reckoning of sorts – her relationship with her mother has always been fraught, after all – but an encounter with a woman in red, and the discovery of a mysterious spa Noelle frequented in the last months of her life reveal something rather more sinister at play.

Veering into gothic and psychological horror territory, Rouge is the latest from Bunny author Mona Awad. Packed with recognisable fairytale symbolism – from roses to red shoes to the quest to be the fairest of them all – Belle’s (often quite literal) descent into the depths of La Maison de Méduse makes for a rich and compelling read, with a sideline in deconstructing our relationship with beauty influencers, and the impact our parents’ beauty standards have on us growing up.

In particular, Belle’s mixed heritage comes heavily into play – her white mother both coveting and seemingly repelled by her daughter’s darker skin, a product of her Egyptian father. With La Maison de Méduse promising that age-old beauty standard of “brightness” while often deliberately mis-speaking it as “whiteness”, it’s an interesting exploration of the way society has normalised “white” as the default, while both fetishising and othering darker skin tones.

Carried by Awad’s darkly whimsical writing, Rouge is a gothic pop song, dripping with fairytale and horror influences. Coming to a fairly satisfying ending, one that might leave you surprisingly misty-eyed, it’s perhaps a little too (if you’ll excuse the pun) skin-deep than you might want from something so committed to its exploration of the exploitation within the beauty industry.

Nevertheless, there’s just something about it, an allure that rivals the promises of La Maison de Méduse.

THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)

Mona Awad’s Rouge is out now through Simon & Schuster. Grab yourself a copy from Booktopia HERE.

Jodie Sloan

she/her Brisbane/Meanjin I like fancy cocktails, pro wrestling, and spooky shit.