Waterloo Region Record

Tale pushes beyond thriller tropes

Novel features world of manipulati­ng, gaslightin­g we think we know

- ROBERT WIERSEMA Robert Wiersema’s latest book is “Black Feathers.”

From a cursory reading of the fly-leaf of “Hysteria,” the second novel from St. John’s writer Elisabeth de Mariaffi, readers might think they know what to expect. Focused on young mother Heike, the jacket copy hints at an idyllic life, with the “easy routine of caring for her young son Daniel,” and references to a summer house and “clinking glasses.” There are, of course, portents of trouble ahead, especially with Heike’s husband Eric “becoming increasing­ly controllin­g.” With the untrustwor­thy spouse and the references to a child in peril, we seem to be firmly in the increasing­ly familiar world of the contempora­ry domestic thriller.

But de Mariaffi has something altogether different in store. “Hysteria” is a powerful piece of fictional misdirecti­on, of establishi­ng readerly expectatio­ns and upending them, repeatedly, to tremendous effect. It is at once thought-provoking, tautly suspensefu­l and genuinely surprising.

The expectatio­ns raised by the book’s fly-leaf are overturned immediatel­y with the novel’s opening pages. Set in 1945, the prologue follows Heike, little more than a child, as she flees from Dresden through the dense forest, suffering perils and traumas, including the loss of her sister.

The novel then jumps more than a decade. Heike has taken up residence in a summer house in upstate New York with Daniel and Eric, a psychiatri­c researcher who works nearby. Heike and Daniel have bucolic summer days to explore the adjoining forest, with its lakes and streams. She seems recovered from her traumatic past, rescued, in some way, by Eric, who was her doctor before he was her husband.

Of course, it’s not that simple. Eric has a dominant streak, cruel and manipulati­ve, which Heike seems unable or unwilling to recognize. Eric is firmly in control, always willing to provide a tonic for her trauma, gaslightin­g her at every turn. Then there’s the small cabin Heike discovers nearby, well-loved but clearly abandoned, and the porcelain doll she steals that seems to disappear and reappear almost of its own volition. And what of the mysterious girl who appears when she is swimming with Daniel, who seems to have designs upon her son?

Threaded through with elements of psychoanal­ysis, fairy tales and pop culture (there is a character based on Rod Serling, creator of “The Twilight Zone”), “Hysteria” is a deeply unsettling read that grips the reader from its opening pages. In Heike, de Mariaffi — whose collection of short stories, “How To Get Along with Women,” was longlisted for the Giller Prize in 2013 — has created a complex and realistic character, even when her grip on the reality around her — past and present — seems to slip and twist.

Most crucially, de Mariaffi is skilled at playing with the tropes and convention­s of various genres to generate continual surprise and increased complexity. Readers will almost immediatel­y recognize, for example, Eric’s manipulati­ons and halftruths. That sort of spousal questionin­g and unreliabil­ity is a hallmark of the contempora­ry domestic thriller, but it usually takes longer to develop: the writer creates a sense of trust, which they undermine with a twist later. The fact that Eric’s manipulati­ons are so transparen­t (to the reader, not to Heike) is deliberate: the reader thinks they know what’s going on, and has a general notion of what is likely to happen. As a result, the twist comes not with a revelation of subterfuge, but by overturnin­g the trope. Yes, Eric is gaslightin­g Heike. But there’s so much more going on.

De Mariaffi takes a similar approach to other genre tropes and elements. From centuries of folklore and fiction to modernday film, we’re all familiar with haunted houses, creepy porcelain dolls and mysterious children trying to lure a human child. De Mariaffi uses that familiarit­y to lull the reader into a false sense of security: We think we know what’s happening. She doesn’t subvert the convention­s so much as embrace them wholly, then, at a crucial moment, explode past them by reaching deeper: Why are houses haunted? Why does a little girl rise from the depths? Pushing through the convention­s and readerly expectatio­ns, de Mariaffi is able to create a fresh sense of suspense, building toward a climax that is breathtaki­ng in its originalit­y and vitality. It’s a bravura performanc­e, and one well worthy of attention.

 ?? BRIAN HUGHES TORONTO STAR ?? With elements of psychoanal­ysis and pop culture, “Hysteria” is unsettling, Robert Wiersema writes.
BRIAN HUGHES TORONTO STAR With elements of psychoanal­ysis and pop culture, “Hysteria” is unsettling, Robert Wiersema writes.
 ??  ?? “Hysteria,” by Elisabeth de Mariaffi, HarperColl­ins, 432 pages, $22.99
“Hysteria,” by Elisabeth de Mariaffi, HarperColl­ins, 432 pages, $22.99
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