Sorrow and Bliss meets Normal People in this utterly compelling, darkly humorous millennial coming-of-age novel about a 27-year-old single Jewish woman in Melbourne who must learn to reconcile family expectations, cultural constraints and inter-generational trauma with her own desires.
At 27, Naomi is just trying to be a normal person. A normal person who works at a Jewish Museum, who cares for lost things, found things, sacred things, and her family. A person who finds herself going on bad blind dates, having cringe-worthy sex, a tumultuous, toxic affair, and falling for a man called Moses.
Being a normal person would be easy and fine if she didn’t bear the weight of the unspoken grief of Cookie, her Holocaust-survivor grandmother. It would all be fine if she just knew how to be, without feeling the pull of expectation, the fear of disappointing others (men, friends, her parents, humanity), and that pesky problem of being attracted to all the wrong people (according to her parents, anyway).
By endlessly trying to please everyone around her, Naomi can’t seem to figure out what she wants for herself, or how to get it. With echoes of the dead and dying all about her, in objects, in story, in her grandmother’s firm grasp, Naomi isn’t quite sure she knows how to be a normal person, but she is going to try.
This fiercely honest, funny and fearless novel is a deep-dive into the complex questions that surround culture, identity politics and generational trauma in contemporary Australia. It’s both a sadly affectionate and brilliantly unsparing examination of the glorious, awkward messiness of life.
Elise Esther Hearst is an accomplished playwright and a resident writer at Melbourne Theatre Company. Perhaps it’s this background that has provided her with such an outstandingly clear and vital voice. Hearst’s wit, clarity of vision, punchy humour, varying rhythms and magnificent observations make her a standout author. Her debut novel soars.
In protagonist Naomi, Hearst has created a character as loveable and perfectly flawed as she is unique. She’s in the thick of her late 20s, and experiencing the maelstrom of emotions and dramas that age provides. In many ways, Naomi reminded me of Hannah in the hit TV series Girls; if you enjoyed the tone of that show, you will love this novel.
This novel also offers a wondrous insight into modern life in the Jewish community of Melbourne – particularly the female millennial experience. Special note has to be made of Hearst’s vivid descriptions and her exceptional ear for dialogue. She has a profound ability to capture the smallest details and convey them in a way that reveals so much about each character.
Written in the first person, One Day We’re All Going to Die is unflinchingly honest, heartbreakingly funny and deeply moving. The perfect balance of irreverence and depth. Superb!
Leave a Reply