Gabriela's Reviews > The Performance

“There are doubts somewhere in the vicinity of her heart, she can feel them. She is holding them there. Heart doubts. Waverings. Confusions. She is hearing this declaration of doubt. Or is it a confession, to express doubt? An accusation? It depends on who is listening.”

I will just start by saying that I absolutely loved this book, I lapped it up over 2 days & loved every second. The writing is sharp, thought provoking & the structure so unique & extremely well executed.

The novel is set in a Melbourne theatre where three women are watching a performance of Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days, whilst a bushfire is ablaze on the edge of the city. Margot is a professor contemplating her fractious relationship with her sick husband, Ivy is a philanthropist with a difficult past while Summer is a drama student, working as an usher, anxious about her girlfriend who has gone to help her parents who are affected by the fires.

Thomas vividly evokes that feeling of anticipation, settling in your seat, sometimes slightly annoyed by noisy audience members or the territorial negotiation of the armrest. Her novel is structured so that we spend most of the time in Margot, Summer and Ivy’s heads, bringing them together neatly at the interval in a very unique way, before they return to their seats. I thoroughly enjoyed this witty, perceptive novel which hangs together beautifully as its characters unfold their stories through thoughts, memories and reflections, occasionally offering their views on the play enacted in front of them.

All in all one I would definitely recommend, this will be one I hope to revisit again one day & has left me feeling very excited to explore more Aussie lit.

(A very big thank you to the publisher for sending this gifted proof copy my way)