Kate Kruimink, the Fiction Editor at Tasmania’s literary magazine Island, has just released her second book – Heartsease.
Heartsease is a beautifully complicated story that focuses on two sisters, Charlotte (Lot) and Ellen (Nelly), who are doing their best to process their mother’s death while also trying to get sober at a retreat. However, this becomes hard to achieve when one suddenly dies and the other realises the burden that their sister had been carrying around with them since childhood, thanks to their mother and her tendency of being a prickly rose.
Throughout Heartsease, Kruimink keeps the reader engaged with her text by building suspense, drama, and by bringing in mystery elements that keep focus on two key components: the significance of the sisters and their personal association with a flower, and how each sister lives within time or reality differently. Nelly’s story, for example, is set in the past and is visited through her memories, whilst Lot’s perspective is told from the present.
These two perspectives give rise to ideas of contested memories, of shared experiences but different recollections of how those events unfolded. Something, which is not uncommon within sibling relationships. And I felt this exploration of familial ties, of trauma, grief and memory, especially within sibling and sisterly relationships is one of the big strengths of the novel.
Another highlight is the way in which Kruimink plays with ideas of dualities and complexities. Often, we humans think that we live in a simplified black and white world, when in reality, that is not the case; which can be seen within the soul of Heartsease. As Kruimink has stated, “[h]umour and grief are perhaps opposites, but opposites reference each other; they need each other for their very definition.”
Therefore, whilst Heartsease is primarily emotional in tone, it also has moments of humour. It is this balance between the two that makes the novel feel so relatable. This focus on complexity extends to the characters too, with Kruimink crafting some enjoyably complicated and well rounded characters. Characters that also navigate that balance between trauma/grief and humour. Nelly, for example, is nihilistic and troubled, but also hilarious. Take, for example, her iconic line: “The sun’s going to explode in six billion years anyway so don’t worry about”.
The complexity of the relationship between the two sisters, and the contrasts between the two women is another of the novel’s strengths and testament to Kruimink’s skill as a writer. Nelly clearly looks up to Lot, and sees her as something she is not: “I felt like I would be a better person, calmer, more grounded, more trustworthy, with better skin, maybe, smaller pores, if I knew my geranium from my hydrangea. In other words, I’d be more like Lot.” However, as readers we come to realise that not everything and everyone is as they’re made out to be.
Indeed, I enjoyed the way that the perception of each character changed depending on who’s story we are reading. For example, one of my favourite characters, Josh, is viewed differently depending on the character’s perspective. To Nelly, Josh is someone to be taken seriously, someone who is kind and passionate, someone who has their own personality. However, to Lot, Josh is nonchalant, unserious, and weird, perhaps one dimensional, and only viewed as a smoker or drug user. And to me, he is nothing more than an incredible friend, ally, and support system to the two sisters.
Heartsease is a beautifully compelling novel that explores themes of familial ties, grief, trauma, ghosts, and memories. It would make the perfect read for those who enjoy the complexities of life and who enjoy a deeply intimate and emotional read.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Heartsease by Kate Kruimink is available now from Picador. Grab yourself a copy from Booktopia HERE.
