“The Starving Bride” by Catherine Chidgey
The Coalition of Books launched Aotearoa Book of the Month initiative and what a great choice for a launch.
I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy and read it with great enthusiasm that was gradually transformed into a lasting unsettledness.
The books I like best have several important elements including an original premise underpinning the narrative, language that is spare but deeply evocative of time, place and personality and thirdly a lingering effect, causing me to think and reflect upon the story long after finishing it. The Starving Bride gets five stars for all three.
The books I like best have several important elements including an original premise underpinning the narrative, language that is spare but deeply evocative of time, place and personality and thirdly a lingering effect, causing me to think and reflect upon the story long after finishing it. The Starving Bride gets five stars for all three.
The story is of Hazel, 20 something, recently unemployed casting about for what comes next – preferably something that pays well to assist her repaying some significant debt. She reconnects with an old friend and is encouraged to apply for work in a side-show act in Blackpool. Hazel imagines she may get a role dancing on stage but instead is somewhat coerced into the role of The Starving Bride – 40 days of public scrutiny (for a fee) via a glass coffin, she subsists on sips of water, her compliance ensured by the presence of Xander, a prowling lion. This throwback to the 1930’s fascination with fairground oddities is juxtaposed against imminent contemporary, climate disaster, family disintegration, social media intrusion, and plain old greed.
Chidgey tells the story simply and directly, challenging the reader to consider the effect of the world’s obsession with the female form with such menace that it (and the Anabelles) will haunt you.
Available from your local bookstore.
