A knack for words

MOONLIGHT SONATA by Eileen Merriman (Penguin Random House, $38)

Don’t let the moodily lit and ever-so-dreamy cover fool you — it well and truly belies the intensity and edginess of New Zealand author Eileen Merriman’s latest skilfully crafted novel.

When I say it’s her latest, it is a debut of sorts. Since 2017, Merriman has published three Young Adult books: Pieces of You, Catch Me When You Fall and Invisibly Breathing. All have been shortlisted for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young People, so clearly the full-time consultant haematologist has a knack for words.

Moonlight Sonata is her first book for adults and here she strengthens the provocative, well-paced writing she’s becoming widely known and regarded for. Nevertheless, making these sorts of transition can be risky.

Rather than leaping into a whole new genre, Merriman makes it a smoother move than it might have been by centring the story on young protagonists and exploring the not-so-sweet childhoods of older characters. These are the types of characters she is, perhaps, familiar with and while the issues and complications of their lives aren’t totally removed from those she has previously explored, Merriman certainly isn’t afraid to explore territory more timid writers might avoid.

Moonlight Sonata is about incest but not sexual abuse. On the contrary, this is possibly even more sensitive, complex and taboo territory because it’s about the consequences of attraction between consenting adults. Who happen to be related.

Although one or two of the metaphors are a little obvious, the plot is propulsive. It’s helped along because it’s all so recognisable: a bach, a New Zealand summer in a coastal town and a family heaving with secrets. You can practically feel the hot asphalt on your feet and taste the Tip Top the kids are eating. It serves to point out that really, these people aren’t so different to the rest of us.

The story is given extra depth because of Merriman’s other life as a medical professional. She knows full well blood is thicker than water and can also explain in layperson’s terms the consequences of things like unchecked Type 1 diabetes or genetic inheritance. She even manages to make it exciting.

She also knows what it takes to get a heart beating and breaking. Here, Merriman deftly shows the all-too-human dilemmas involved, the very real emotions and difficulties inherent in this situation. Only the most hard-hearted of reader would fail to be moved by what goes on — and has gone on — and only the most disciplined of readers will put the book down and turn the light off at a sensible time of night. —

Reviewed by Dionne Christian