Diving, Falling, the debut novel from Kylie Mirmohamadi, charts the exhilarating rollercoaster of emotions that accompany grief. In the book, Mirmohamadi explores the role of betrayal in relationships and how it plays out – who has been betrayed, when they were betrayed and who caused the betrayal.
Author Leila Whittaker has always been the family mediator. She’s the one who has made sure everyone – usually her husband, Ken, and sons Sebastian and Otis – are happy and calm and that any tensions are smoothed over.
Then Ken dies – and Leila’s life changes, forcing her to seek her own peace away from Melbourne and all the reminders of her husband and his indiscretions.
Diving, Falling also examines the roles of women in society and everything expected of them to placate the men around them. This is a novel that teases apart gender disparity and idealised gender role and the ways certain people are placed on pedestals, with their genius celebrated and their flaws ignored.
There’s an expectation that someone like Leila is expected to remain quiet and pander to Ken’s fragile and egotistical genius so he can create the art everyone loves. Leila abandonned her own writing career and happiness to keep the peace in a turbulent relationship, with the novel interrogating why women make these sacrifices.
At times, it feels as though Leila had held things back from those around her. Her reticence in expressing her feelings will be familiar to those who find it difficult to speak up and may give them courage to finally do so.Â
It is a feminist story about the reclamation of a submerged identity. At first, Leila is going through the motions following Ken’s death. She does what everyone expects her to do in the days following, but her eventual departure from grieving widow to a new version of herself is refreshing as she finds new people to be with – though some connections can’t be changed.Â
The reclamation of power and joy later in a woman’s life is at the heart of this novel; it gives older women a voice. It holds back where it needs to and delivers when the time comes. The things unsaid are often the most powerful moments.
Read: Book review: Here One Moment, Liane Moriarty
Diving, Falling is an unashamed look at responses to grief and the rebuilding of a life from the remnants of what remains. It empowers women to take back their lives and become who they have always wanted to be.
Diving, Falling, Kylie Mirmohamadi
Publisher: Scribe
ISBN: 9781761380662
Format: Paperback
Pages: 256pp
Release Date: 3 September 2024
RRP: $32.99
Diving, Falling, Kylie Mirmohamadi
Grief, betrayal and taking back your own life is at the core of this debut novel.
URL: https://www.artshub.com.au/news/reviews/-2744071
Author: Kylie Mirmohamadi
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