The Birdcatcher
by Gayl Jones
Nomination: National Book Finalist 2022
Date Read: October 30, 2022
Amanda Wordlaw is a writer (I know, the name) and her best friend, Catherine Shuger, is a sculptor. Both are well-regarded in their craft and have found a way to express their black point of view through their art. Set in the 1970s, the majority of The Birdcatcher occurs on Ibiza while Amanda is visiting Catherine and her husband, Ernest, also a writer.
Catherine is mentally unwell and is in and out of mental institutions. Although she is a self-harmer, she is more hell-bent on murdering her husband. Yet, he never leaves her. He never even entertains the idea of leaving her. Amanda’s presence creates a strange but useful third wheel dynamic and everyone assumes they are all three lovers. But Amanda is able to follow Catherine into places Ernest cannot go, such as the women’s bathroom or anywhere else Catherine may be able to harm herself.
Catherine and Ernest are trapped in a never-ending cycle of dysfunction: Catherine tries to kill Ernest; Ernest has her committed; Ernest gets her released; Catherine tries to kill him again. This cycle could easily turn into a farce in the hands of another author but Jones somehow manages to make this more about the tortured artist than about mental illness.
I didn’t follow a lot of what was happening in Amanda’s personal life nor why she tried to prevent Catherine from finding out anything about it. Using the plot as an opportunity to expound on art theory, black expression, and natural healing, the ending becomes convoluted and I was unsure if Jones was trying to upend all that had come before or just leave an element of doubt in readers’ minds. Either way, this novel is ultimately an opaque journey through Jones’s mind. About halfway through, I was eager to leave.
Comments
Post a Comment