Sarah Perry (2) (1979–)

56. Enlightenment by Sarah Perry
OPD: 2024
format: 378-page hardcover
acquired: August 2 read: Aug 25-31 time reading: 12:33, 2 mpp
rating: 3½
genre/style: contemporary fiction theme: Booker 2024
locations: Essex 1997-2017
about the author: English author born in 1979 in Chelmsford, Essex, into a family of devout Christians who were members of the Strict Baptist church.

My fourth from the Booker longlist is one that I'm hesitant to admit I did not like. This is an Essex novel, trying to capture a small town feel in the flat muddy region, its history and present, and the feel of a local isolated religious group, the Strict Baptists. It's also a mystery novel with a ghost of sorts. The main character, Thomas Hart, lives at least two lives, one in the church, one in London where he can be openly gay. And arguably a third in his newspaper column where he can write along the edges for his lost faith, pondering the skies and the sciences. The secondary main character, Grace Macaulay, is a teenager in the community, without a mother, and with a kind of removed, Bible-toting but kindly father. She takes to Thomas as a father figure. She is faithful but will struggle with that. In the midst of them is an abandoned house, once owned by a church founder with an eccentric Romanian wife. There are a lot of mysteries and stories about this woman, who may have been an early astronomer. Comets, past and present, have some prominence. She, this Romanian woman, has a ghostly real presence in Thomas's mind.

The story as told lies somewhere between contemporary realism and tall tale remove. Much of real life is washed away, invisible - practical stressful realities are not just left off the page, they lie far far away. We can put all our attention on faith and community and a mystery. In tune with this is the way historical relics show up without effort, dropping on people's laps when needed, and disappearing just as carelessly. No one seems particularly concerned with where they go, or what's lost without them. So light and fun with a light-fun mystery and also some profound mixture of stars, comets and wavering faith. Some readers take to the book on this level. I admit, I tried the light and fun. But then I didn't want to take anything seriously. I had trouble trying to do both.

I have one bitter thought. It goes something like this: am I uncomfortable with the religious aspects, or with its presentation? Is this sanitized take all just a way to coddle the religious issues in a story: keeping things slightly removed from the necessary complications of reality; obscuring issues with a simple mystery, and by an, at best, surficial touch on astronomy and its vast possible meanings? I mean, when we look at our own divine perspectives and the vastness of space and blend them, why does it feel to me like Perry has filtered out so much?

Of course, it's not really a deep look at faith, since nothing doctrinal is mentioned, only church's rejection of homosexuality and many contemporary pleasures, like movies and fashion. So my thought is overkill. I do think the book is kind of love story of Perry and toward her Strict Baptist community, including all the discomfort she herself has had with it. I believe she broke with the church as some point (I haven't confirmed that).

There were things I liked. It has a charm, and complexity to it. The main characters are embraceable. It leaves a feeling of small-town Essex, child of the medieval Battle of Malden, of its mud and sea-flooding, a sheltered train ride from materialist London. The book struggles amongst itself in interesting ways. It can compel. I wanted to see Thomas happy. And Grace go back in time and fill in the living part of life. I’m just way more stuck on the problems above.

Anyway, as I said above, I didn't take to this. It seems to be a divider among Booker readers, so I recommended mostly to the intrepid.

2024
https://www.librarything.com/topic/362165#8616961… (more)

Enlightenment had promise, I thought as I began to read it. Unfortunately it did not live up to my hopes.

Thomas Hart is a man living in the small town of Adleigh, Essex. He attends a strict Baptist Church , and struggles with his faith vs. his life as a closeted gay man. Grace Macauley is a close friend of Thomas, though she is three decades younger than him. Both attend the same church and labour with their beliefs vs. the natural world. Over time, both deal with unrequited love. Thomas becomes obsessed with a married man, who is not interested in returning his affections. Grace becomes equally obsessed with a young man , Nathan. Initially, Nathan returns Grace's love, but soon the relationship is torn apart. This is a story about unrequited love, which is reflected by the orbit of the planets and comets. It is also the story of adherence to strict Christian faith , and desire to pursue natural urges.

I felt this story had promise, if only Sarah Perry had delved deeper into the two main characters thoughts and conflicts. It was very much longer than it needed to be. I am not much interested in astronomy , so the abundance of writing on this topic was a drag for me.… (more)