Reviews

• Strange creatures of the lake

  On the surface Disquiet is a not very surprising story about the return of the black sheep of a well-to-do family in Australia. If located in rural England or America of the ninetieth century it would remind of several other society novels of that time. If ti were not for the atmosphere of suppressed anger, fear and violence masking a desperate yearning for compassion and love that I have only found in Julia Leigh's novels. I read The Hunter in one evening and couldn't put down Disquiet either. This, although nothing much really happens. Apart from some moments of real horror there is little or no action. The suspense is created by Leigh's prose and her matter of fact style, all the while feeding images to the subconscious. And, like The Hunter, Disquiet converges toward a healing if not happy end, coming nearly full circle in the process, but leaving all protagonists with some hope for a better future. In this aspect Disquiet reminded me more of Murakami than of Emily Bronte. I would recommend this unusual book to everyone fed up with thrillers and different shades of grey.

• Mystifying and uncomfortable yet impeccably beautiful.

  Leigh writes moments that only a still, deep mind can fathom. The eery becomes familiar and the beautiful twists into upside-down shadows of itself. Mirrors after mirrors shapeshift in this world of becoming.

• One of the best writers today.

  This is a great novella written with limpid prose but with a complex structure of language and latent violence simmering below. The seemingly simple language masks a growing darkness through this short work, with points of horror and bizarre and black comedy emerging. The austere and highly organised world of the setting contrasts with the animalistic nature that emerges from the central characters. Like her earlier novel, The Hunter, I would highly recommend this to anyone.

• Well-Crafted to a Fault

  I read Disquiet almost five years ago and rated it two stars (but didn't write a review). Now that I critically, and write, I better understand the way this story is told. It helps that I've seen Leigh's film, Sleeping Beauty, which gave me a better idea of Leigh's aesthetic and her storytelling technique. Julia Leigh is the ultimate in the art of show, don't tell, to a fault. Disquiet almost exists as a warning against going in a 100% show-don't-tell direction, despite this adage being rule #1 in Creative Writing 101. Disquiet exists entirely of scenes told from a rarely used third-person objective narrator: the narrator has /no clue/ what the characters are thinking. The narrator merely observes and reports, occasionally with a colorful turn of phrase. This technique requires the reader to read between the lines and listen to their own feelings of unease as the story unfolds. Definitely read this in one sitting. I admire this as a true novella, instead of just as a really long short story (like Karen Russell's Sleep Donation) or just a short novel. However, I think with a tad more reflection and flashback the novel would be more memorable. Certain scenes stick with me, but the experience as a whole is already starting to fade.

• Beautiful Language but Ultimately Disappointing

  Ms. Leigh's writing has a rich and visual style. It's almost as though you are walking with the characters in the surreal atmosphere which pervades this novella. I enjoyed the writing and I kept hoping, and hoping.... that the story would evolve to something more, something beyond the same story line and premise from which the book begins. Without giving away too much of the plot, a brother and sister find themselves together at their mother's chateau after not having been there together for over a decade. The sister, referred to as 'the woman' throughout the book is escaping an abusive marriage. Her brother, Marcus, is dealing with the aftermath of the birth of a stillbotn baby after trying, with his wife, to get pregnant for many years. He is also dealing with his mistress, a young woman who calls him often on his cell phone but is never given her own character except as a young girl on scholarship. His wife, Sophie, can not bear to part with her dead infant who she carries with her as though she were still living. 'The woman's' son is conniving to get back to his father who has battered his mother. His sister appears passive and non-reactive. The language is beautiful. I felt like I was there. However, the book could and should have been so much more. I was disappointed as it went on and on and on with no real change. I love Ms. Leigh's style and await her next book. I also intend to read her first book, 'Hunger'.

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