by Keri Hulme
First published 1985
The narrator opens their eyes to discover complete abandonment. Everyone has departed. The door will not open. Nothing remains in the room except emptiness. This stark beginning launches Keri Hulme's 1985 novella, written during the same period that brought her international recognition. The protagonist must confront their isolation and make sense of their circumstances. What led to this moment of total desertion? How does someone respond when stripped of all familiar anchors? The story examines what happens when a person faces the most fundamental human fear. Hulme constructs a tale of solitude that forces both narrator and reader to grapple with questions of connection and loss. The novella explores how we define ourselves when everything external disappears.
Genres: literary-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, adult-fiction
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: isolation, unreliable-narrator
Period: 1985
Paperback · Victoria University Press