Desire Lines

After seven years Mari is still in deep mourning for Tully, her deafblind sister for whom she was like a mother. She decides to leave her husband Felix at home and sets off on a walk towards the sea, in search of a new beginning. She’s accompanied by Jakke, a rescued jackdaw who even after his recovery keeps fluttering around her. Meanwhile, Felix and his brother are building a place where Mari may one day feel at home.

During her journey, Mari meets some remarkable people, who encourage her to formulate profound insights into mourning, relationships with others and the inadequacy of language. A common thread throughout the book is the work of British artist Richard Skelton, which Mari refers to in an effort to express her own feelings.

In ‘Desire Lines’ Caro Van Thuyne meanders between prose and pure poetry. Not only does she paint a picturesque image of the land that Mari traverses, but the reader can almost hear, smell and feel that same landscape: the misty meadows and tiny villages, the river and finally the sea which is given a crucial role.

This remarkable, sensitive novel about the search for consolation after a loss doesn’t work towards healing or recovery, but takes the reader into an emotional vortex of mourning. Van Thuyne depicts mourning as a total experience, which involves reflection, stillness and inarticulacy, as well as raw emotions.