Consent

CONSENT

by Annabel Lyon

 

Nomination: Women's Prize Longlist 2021

 

Date Read: July 27, 2022

 

I can’t tell if Consent was intended to be a psychological thriller or one person’s take on the immensity and variations of grief. Regardless, Consent focuses on two sets of sisters, Saskia and Jenny (twins) and Sara and Mattie. Both end up losing a sister and there is one person that links these pairs – Robert Dwyer.

 

Sara encounters Dwyer when she returns home after their mother’ death to find Mattie married to him – the local, neighborhood handyman. This wouldn’t be such a problem except that Mattie is mentally disabled and not totally capable of making her own decisions. Robert seems sweet but Sara suspects that he is only out for the inheritance Mattie will receive from their mother’s passing. Besides, what would a normally functioning man want with a mentally disabled wife? She quickly forces a divorce.

 

Saskia is the exact opposite of her sister, Jenny. Saskia is a professor – intellectually curious and regimented. Jenny is more glamorous, wild and laissez-faire. One evening, Jenny is catastrophically injured in a car accident and dies several months after being on life support. After her death, Saskia discovers that Jenny was into BDSM and her preferred partner was Robert Dwyer.

 

Over the course of the book, we discover a lot about Dwyer and most of it appears good – a man that just got sidetracked by life, never processed his traumas well and used drugs to numb his hurt. But after a while, we see a different side of him, a scary, unkind side. I couldn’t tell if he was a good guy or a bad guy (ah, my need for black and white), when the real answer is yes. He’s both.

 

Sara eventually seeks Saskia out when she learns about Jenny’s connection to Robert. They meet several times and then never see each other again. Behind the scenes, they have come up with a plan. But did Robert really deserve the punishment he is given?

 

Causing someone harm that you blame for a death of a loved one will never ease the grief. Revenge never heals the heart or is as satisfying as you hope it will be. Especially as we see in the aftermath Saskia and Sara’s continued diminishment and sadness.

 

Overall, this was an engaging novel that was entertaining and thought provoking.

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