Every so often, I happen upon a book that captures me from the start and introduces me to a flurry of emotions along the way. And this was one of them. I found it on the “Free Books” shelf at the library and was instantly drawn by the splash of colors on the cover. The inside of the book was as pretty as the outside, with the flowery prose and alluring childhood reminiscence. It was one of those stories that I connected with deeply, finding correlations in the narrative with my own story. On an overlook with this book open in my lap, and the nippy breeze countered by the warm sun, the Catskills became a host for the reflections of this novel.
The Book
A look at the story
Emily Bitto’s debut novel, The Strays, is a poetically written story that revolves around a bohemian art family, the Trenthams, in 1930’s conservative Australia. Lily, our story’s protagonist, brings us back to her childhood and her friendship with Eva Trentham. Lily is enraptured by the glamour and eccentricity of Eva’s family, a vibrant contrast to her pale life at home. Evan and Helen Trentham wished to create a space for art to flourish in their home, leaving no room for their daughters. Thus, Eva and her sisters are forced to endure independence and the weight of their parents’ disgraces. Despite this, Lily envelops herself in this enigmatic household, preferring the magical gardens and vivacious guests to her modest family.
The story touches upon themes of debauchery vs decency, the fragility of social circles, broken family systems, the intimacy of girlhood friendships, and the isolation of the outsider. We experience life on the sidelines of this exotic family with their revolving door of guests. The blurred lines of authority between parents and children. We witness the inseparable bond between Lily and Eva that becomes exhausted by envy and secrets. While reading this book, I felt myself sliding into this childhood reminiscence, cavorting in the gardens and discovering the secrets of the house.
The author
A look at the author’s inspiration
Emily Bitto initially wrote The Strays as a part of her PhD project at the University of Melbourne. She was inspired by the iconoclastic artist during the era of Modernism. During this time period in Australia, there was a clash between the progression of art and the conservative culture. The artists of this time were martyrs for artists to come, extricating themselves to the margins as a protest against society and a proclamation for their creativity. Emily Bitto places this group of outcasts at the center of this novel through the inspection of someone on the outside.
If you would like to learn more about Emily Bitto and her comments on the novel, read more here from a 2014 interview between Emily Bitto and the Potts Point Bookshop blog.
Thoughts & Reflections
WARNING: some spoilers may be present
My connection to the story
There is no intimacy as great as that between young girls. Even between lovers, who cross boundaries we are accustomed to thinking of as at the furthest territories of closeness, there is a constant awareness of separateness, the wonder at the fact that the loved one is distinct, whole, with a past and a mind housed behind the eyes we gaze into that exist, inviolate, without us. It is the lack of such wonder that reveals the depth of intimacy in that first chaste trial marriage between girls.
The novel beautifully portrays the intimate bond between girlhood friends. The type of friendship that lacks boundaries and leaves no space for others. This heightened closeness also magnifies the intensity of hurt and betrayal. While reading about the friendship between Lily and Eva, I was reminded of an old best friend from my past. She and I were so enmeshed that one failed to notice where one began and the other ended. From the secrets we harbored to the food we ate, we shared everything between us. But our friendship, abundant in love and obsession, couldn’t withstand the test of time. It refused to adapt to shifting priorities and newfound infatuations. And I was unable to accept when it was time to loosen my grip.
I sympathized with Lily as she struggled with her waning friendship with Eva. I understand the hurt of feeling demoted from your place as the other half in your best friend’s life. My friend was juggling her own share, while I was wrapped up in my feelings of hurt and betrayal. Her elusive ways were met by my tendency to stifle. And in all of my attempts to regain ground, I was pushing her away and providing no way back. Yet, I experienced my friendship in first-person narrative, for I was as naive to my friend’s perspective as Lily was to Eva’s. Where Lily took Eva’s secrecy as deceptive, perhaps Eva used it as a shield. To ward off Lily’s spotlight on her family in spectating the theatrics of the family.
My views on the story
“When was it that I became a voyeur in their midst? I was the perfect witness, an unsuspected anthropologist disguised within the body of a young girl, surrounded by other young girls who were part of the family. Yet I was a cuckoo in the nest, an imposter who listened and observed, hoarding and collecting information.”
In the beginning, I was enticed by the Trenthams and found their maverick ways amusing. Yet as the story unfolded, my distaste for Helen and Evan grew. I became impatient with their inability to make space in their lives for their daughters. Not to mention, I found the hidden hypocrisy in their nonconformity ironic. In their quest to defy convention, they inadvertently adopt tradition. The dynamic between husband and wife still placed the wife in the backdrop of her husband’s life. Helen surrendered to her role as the supportive wife in the wake of her ambitious husband.
The relationship that developed between Lily and the Trenthams was complex. Eva and her sisters provided Lily with a sense of belonging that she lacked as an only child. There was a longing to be part of a large, boisterous family, and Helen and Evan opened their home to her. Despite this upgrade in the family, Lily continues to find herself on the sidelines. She senses the fragility of her place in the house and its reliance on Eva’s whims. Not to mention her inability to fully adopt the bashful ways of the Trentham and their guests. Lily kept herself close enough to the family to be enchanted by its spell whilst keeping the chaos at arm’s length. She lay witness to the wreckage of the family, collecting its secrets like garnishment, while maintaining an escape route. A route that Eva and her sisters lacked.
Closing Thoughts
I would recommend this story to anyone who enjoys poetic prose, coming-of-age, and a counter-culture movement. It’s the perfect book to read by the lake or at an overlook on the mountain. And with less than 300 pages, it’s a perfect pack stuffer. Have you already read The Strays? If so, share your thoughts below! I would love to hear how others have connected to the story.
Join me in 2 weeks for another Backpacker’s Book Club commentary. Until then,
Happy Trails!
