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One Another
At Cambridge University, in the summer of 1992, Australian student Helen is completing her thesis on Joseph Conrad. But she is distracted by a charming and dangerous lover, Justin, and by a ghost manuscript, her anti-thesis, which she has left on a train.
Haunted by this loss and others, by Justin’s destructive tendencies and by details of Conrad’s life, Helen is unmoored. And then the drama of the lost manuscript sets in motion a series of events—with possibly fatal consequences.
In her masterly new novel, Gail Jones traverses the borders between art and life, between life and death, in a journey through literary history and emotional landscapes. Elegantly written, deftly crafted, One Another covers new territories of grief, memory and narrative.
Haunted by this loss and others, by Justin’s destructive tendencies and by details of Conrad’s life, Helen is unmoored. And then the drama of the lost manuscript sets in motion a series of events—with possibly fatal consequences.
In her masterly new novel, Gail Jones traverses the borders between art and life, between life and death, in a journey through literary history and emotional landscapes. Elegantly written, deftly crafted, One Another covers new territories of grief, memory and narrative.
228 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 27, 2024
20 people are currently reading
206 people want to read
About the author
Gail Jones
39books125followersGail Jones is the author of two short-story collections, a critical monograph, and the novels BLACK MIRROR, SIXTY LIGHTS, DREAMS OF SPEAKING, SORRY and FIVE BELLS.
Three times shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award, her prizes include the WA Premier's Award for Fiction, the Nita B. Kibble Award, the Steele Rudd Award, the Age Book of the Year Award, the Adelaide Festival Award for Fiction and the ASAL Gold Medal. She has also been shortlisted for international awards, including the IMPAC and the Prix Femina.
Her fiction has been translated into nine languages. Gail has recently taken up a Professorship at UWS.
Three times shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award, her prizes include the WA Premier's Award for Fiction, the Nita B. Kibble Award, the Steele Rudd Award, the Age Book of the Year Award, the Adelaide Festival Award for Fiction and the ASAL Gold Medal. She has also been shortlisted for international awards, including the IMPAC and the Prix Femina.
Her fiction has been translated into nine languages. Gail has recently taken up a Professorship at UWS.
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October 30, 2024The following reviews have been shared by Text Publishing - publisher of One Another:
‘Carefully crafted prose that will delight and assure you of an expert at work…Jones has delved into literary history again and pieced the real and the imaginary into an artful new construction…Highly recommended for those interested in literature, history or biographies.�
Books+Publishing
‘As in all Jones’s work, the lyricism and precision of the writing rewards patient reading. This is her most beautifully paced novel…Eloquent and profound.�
Australian Book Review
‘To read a Gail Jones novel is to become absorbed in narrative patterns of looping time, often cinematic imagery, and interrelated literary allusions…A richly evocative novel…that adds to our understanding of the processes of writing and reading the lives of others.�
Conversation
‘Reading and writing—two great acts of literary citizenship—are at the heart of this novel.�
ArtsHub
‘Layer upon layer, Gail Jones has skilfully woven multiple narratives into a tightly held novel that will undo the reader with its poignancy...Of course, you will love this novel if you enjoyed Anna Funder’s Wifedom, or Richard Flanagan’s Question 7; all these authors show us the links and the losses...Gail Jones is one of Australia’s finest authors and I know her stories grant compassion and grace our collective imagination.�
Readings
�5 stars. Jones� latest novel is a shining example of her consummate skills.�
Good Reading
‘A complex and delicately written story about displacement, loss and the power of the imagination�.Written in the most beautiful, lucid prose.�
Guardian
‘One of the most important and prolific literary authors working in Australia today.�
Sydney Review of Books
‘Carefully crafted prose that will delight and assure you of an expert at work…Jones has delved into literary history again and pieced the real and the imaginary into an artful new construction…Highly recommended for those interested in literature, history or biographies.�
Books+Publishing
‘As in all Jones’s work, the lyricism and precision of the writing rewards patient reading. This is her most beautifully paced novel…Eloquent and profound.�
Australian Book Review
‘To read a Gail Jones novel is to become absorbed in narrative patterns of looping time, often cinematic imagery, and interrelated literary allusions…A richly evocative novel…that adds to our understanding of the processes of writing and reading the lives of others.�
Conversation
‘Reading and writing—two great acts of literary citizenship—are at the heart of this novel.�
ArtsHub
‘Layer upon layer, Gail Jones has skilfully woven multiple narratives into a tightly held novel that will undo the reader with its poignancy...Of course, you will love this novel if you enjoyed Anna Funder’s Wifedom, or Richard Flanagan’s Question 7; all these authors show us the links and the losses...Gail Jones is one of Australia’s finest authors and I know her stories grant compassion and grace our collective imagination.�
Readings
�5 stars. Jones� latest novel is a shining example of her consummate skills.�
Good Reading
‘A complex and delicately written story about displacement, loss and the power of the imagination�.Written in the most beautiful, lucid prose.�
Guardian
‘One of the most important and prolific literary authors working in Australia today.�
Sydney Review of Books
May 8, 2024
I quite liked this audiobook.
An interesting look at an Australian woman in Cambridge doing her phD on Joseph Conrad and how her work is undone by losing her thesis on a train. Her below average relationship doesn't help either.
If anything it's made me more interested in reading Joseph Conrad's work. Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy it nor feel much of a connection to the characters. Which is how I tend to feel about Gail Jones recent work, unfortunately because I think she's a brilliant writer, has a brilliant mind and her novel really did that for me. It is one of my favourite novels.
An interesting look at an Australian woman in Cambridge doing her phD on Joseph Conrad and how her work is undone by losing her thesis on a train. Her below average relationship doesn't help either.
If anything it's made me more interested in reading Joseph Conrad's work. Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy it nor feel much of a connection to the characters. Which is how I tend to feel about Gail Jones recent work, unfortunately because I think she's a brilliant writer, has a brilliant mind and her novel really did that for me. It is one of my favourite novels.
March 12, 2024
I have long admired the writing of Gail Jones but found her most recent publication a struggle. The highly polished prose was evident, but I got stuck between the two worlds of her doctoral student, Helen, and the life of Joseph Conrad into which Helen had immersed herself. I found the movement between these two worlds/lives burdensome and overwritten. And, although I continued to admire Jones’s creativity and literary flair, I remained distant from Helen and her obsessive reimagining of the enigmatic Conrad.
August 1, 2024
Tore through this one in two days in part due to isolation for Covid but also for being a beautiful reading experience. The writing is just gorgeous and I could immerse myself with uninterrupted reading time. Helen is writing a thesis on Joseph Conrad whilst a relationship with Justin who has violent tendencies has her distracted that she loses her precious manuscript on a train. The sections on Conrad juxtaposed to the present day dramas of Helen’s life were interesting and I will definitely look to read his work. I have read several novels from this author with mixed reactions but this is my favourite thus far along with Sorry as a close second.
April 14, 2024
Gail Jones has a magical way of describing events and situations. In this respect this book does not disappoint. If I had a better understanding of the work of Joseph Conrad I think this book would have been a 5 star review. I loved the historical context but found it difficult to relate to or appreciate without the knowledge of Conrad’s writing.
The timeline with Helen felt much more visceral, unmoored and relatable- Jones captures this superbly. Her ability to select words with precision means that this book needs slow digestion and really requires close reading.
It has inspired me to delve into some Conrad writing so perhaps it is successful in evoking and inspiring interest in writers who are now slipping into a romantic past where they are known but no longer read.
The timeline with Helen felt much more visceral, unmoored and relatable- Jones captures this superbly. Her ability to select words with precision means that this book needs slow digestion and really requires close reading.
It has inspired me to delve into some Conrad writing so perhaps it is successful in evoking and inspiring interest in writers who are now slipping into a romantic past where they are known but no longer read.
March 12, 2024
An interesting, elegantly written, short novel about Australian student Helen. Helen is completing her thesis on Joseph Conrad at Cambridge in 1992. She loses her working manuscript on Conrad, misplacing it. She has a relationship with Justin. Justin is deceptively charming but she has concerns about his temperament.
There are lots of interesting facts written about Joseph Conrad and the writing life. Gail Jones makes comments on the number of authors who have lost their manuscripts, some of Conrad’s novels, and his life.
The novel also comments on the vulnerability of women.
A very satisfying reading experience. Gail Jones reading fans should find this book a worthwhile read. Highly recommended.
This book was first published in 2024.
There are lots of interesting facts written about Joseph Conrad and the writing life. Gail Jones makes comments on the number of authors who have lost their manuscripts, some of Conrad’s novels, and his life.
The novel also comments on the vulnerability of women.
A very satisfying reading experience. Gail Jones reading fans should find this book a worthwhile read. Highly recommended.
This book was first published in 2024.
July 4, 2024
I think this most recent offering from Gail Jones may well be her best.
The narrator Helen is a bookish young woman trying to navigate life in Cambridge having come there from Hobart on a literary scholarship. Sections of her thesis on Joseph Conrad are interspersed with the story of an unhappy and uncertain Helen,negotiating relationships and friendships, and trying to find her way. The reflections on her childhood in Tasmania and her deep connection to her father are central to the story. Conrad is portrayed as a strange, troubled soul and many of his very dark fictional works are described and examined in an academic style.
Thoroughly engaging.
The narrator Helen is a bookish young woman trying to navigate life in Cambridge having come there from Hobart on a literary scholarship. Sections of her thesis on Joseph Conrad are interspersed with the story of an unhappy and uncertain Helen,negotiating relationships and friendships, and trying to find her way. The reflections on her childhood in Tasmania and her deep connection to her father are central to the story. Conrad is portrayed as a strange, troubled soul and many of his very dark fictional works are described and examined in an academic style.
Thoroughly engaging.
April 4, 2024
I have had a mixed experience with the novels of Gail Jones, one of our most prominent authors. I read her early work somewhat unenthusiastically with a book group, but liking her more recent novels has prompted me to explore her backlist, along with her latest releases.
(2002, now on the TBR)
(2004, read & journalled in 2005)
(2006, read & journalled in 2007)
(2011, on the TBR)
(2015, on the TBR)
The Death of Noah Glass (2018, )
Our Shadows (2020, )
Salonika Burning (2022, )
One Another(2024)
I haven't read (but have just bought a Kindle edition of) Jones's debut novel Black Mirror (2002). However, having come across , I am tempted to suggest that One Another revisits its theme. Apparently Black Mirror is about an idealistic young Australian in London who has her romantic notions quashed by reality, and so too is One Another. Both protagonists are exploring the lives of cultural icons: Anna Griffin in Black Mirror is writing a biography of a (fictional) surrealist artist called Victoria Morrell, and in One Another, Helen Ross is in Cambridge to do a PhD on , the author of (1899), (1900) and Almayer's Folly . In both of these novels, Jones explores the theme of disappointing intercultural experiences and landscapes. The restlessness that prompts Australians to travel in pursuit of their ambitions is still a preoccupation in these novels written more than two decades apart, and the disappointment when expectations aren't realised is also a recurring theme in Jones's most recent fiction. (Particularly in Salonika Burning. Who can forget Stella's frustrations in that novel, eh?)
In One Another, the central character Helen has been conjuring Conrad since she first read his work as a teenager, her interest triggered by visiting the Tasmanian resting place of the remains of the Otago. As you can see from (where I like to record Bookish Moments) I was very excited to see it too:
So you can see how I relate to Helen � who isn't able to explain her thesis to her parents back home, nor to anyone else � when she pretends to herself that she knew Conrad intimately, as if from the inside.
One Another is worth reading for that paragraph alone!
To read the rest of my review please visit
(2002, now on the TBR)
(2004, read & journalled in 2005)
(2006, read & journalled in 2007)
(2011, on the TBR)
(2015, on the TBR)
The Death of Noah Glass (2018, )
Our Shadows (2020, )
Salonika Burning (2022, )
One Another(2024)
I haven't read (but have just bought a Kindle edition of) Jones's debut novel Black Mirror (2002). However, having come across , I am tempted to suggest that One Another revisits its theme. Apparently Black Mirror is about an idealistic young Australian in London who has her romantic notions quashed by reality, and so too is One Another. Both protagonists are exploring the lives of cultural icons: Anna Griffin in Black Mirror is writing a biography of a (fictional) surrealist artist called Victoria Morrell, and in One Another, Helen Ross is in Cambridge to do a PhD on , the author of (1899), (1900) and Almayer's Folly . In both of these novels, Jones explores the theme of disappointing intercultural experiences and landscapes. The restlessness that prompts Australians to travel in pursuit of their ambitions is still a preoccupation in these novels written more than two decades apart, and the disappointment when expectations aren't realised is also a recurring theme in Jones's most recent fiction. (Particularly in Salonika Burning. Who can forget Stella's frustrations in that novel, eh?)In One Another, the central character Helen has been conjuring Conrad since she first read his work as a teenager, her interest triggered by visiting the Tasmanian resting place of the remains of the Otago. As you can see from (where I like to record Bookish Moments) I was very excited to see it too:
... I went to the [Hobart] Maritime Museum and had an unexpected literary treat. There amongst all sorts of model ships and boats, bits of rope, knots and so forth, was a display about the three masted barque Otago, which was the ship commanded by Joseph Conrad in 1888-9. He took command of this ship in Bangkok, sailed it to Sydney, Melbourne, Mauritius and Adelaide before resigning his command because the owners didn’t want him to sail it on to China. It was this journey that formed the basis of his writings about the South Seas, and it is therefore a very great pity that the remains of this ship are being left to rot at Otago Bay in Risden [where we later saw it in situ]. I got quite a thrill from being allowed to touch the hatch that has been salvaged from the ship and restored � Conrad must also have grasped it on his way down below decks!
So you can see how I relate to Helen � who isn't able to explain her thesis to her parents back home, nor to anyone else � when she pretends to herself that she knew Conrad intimately, as if from the inside.
Some quality of her reading life puffed characters into people and writers into companions. For years she subdued this instinct, but it returned and settled within her. Not identification � nothing so crass � but a flow into fiction's otherness that welcomed and accommodated her. Imagining the lives of characters was like imagining friends, those affectionate speculations, the sense of wishing to share in their feelings and witness their experiences. And at times almost a delusion, when she wept at the end of a book for a person made up only of words. (p.9)
One Another is worth reading for that paragraph alone!
To read the rest of my review please visit
April 4, 2024
I love the writing of Conrad and the combination of Conrad and Gail Jones works well. Taking the story of Helen and her scholarship at Cambridge to research his writings she leaves her thesis on a train and this creates the structure of the novel. It moves back and forth between remembered pieces of the thesis, organised in themes, and her unease in being at Newnham. Conrad could never settle and nor does Helen. Her poor choice of a lover in Justin appropriately haunts her and seems reflected in the Conrad pieces. A slow read but worth the time.
May 6, 2024
Another fantastic read by this author. It’s so interesting about Joseph Conrad’s life, presented as research for a nonfiction piece by Helen, an Australian woman living in recent times in Cambridge. The two threads are blended so effectively, I was entranced by both elements. Both have tragic and distressing experiences. Shades of Wifedom, Joseph has a wife, Bertha, who does all his typing, plus more. It’s a beautifully written novel, and a really satisfying read.
June 5, 2024
I love Jones� sentences and her intellect, however I no longer enjoy her books it seems. This one felt so sneering in its descriptions - even innocuous things like a mother feeding her kids chips described without critique or politics but just contempt. It may be an aspect of the narrative of grief, but it’s exhausting and a little ugly. The Conrad story, wrapped up in the missing thesis narrative was also exhausting and didnt interest me (I’m supposed to be a literary reader what is wrong with me).
March 5, 2024
In Melbourne for business, on what I discovered was the day before the Stella Prize longlist announcement I decided to visit a large branch of chain bookshop (Dymocks) and (having eventually found their significant Australian fiction section having initially despaired at the apparent dominance of UK and US books in their stock) decided to buy some books with the key criteria being: female author, book featured either on best of 2023 or books to look out for in 2024 lists and unavailable in the UK.
This 2024 published book hit all three criteria (although will not be eligible for the Stella Prize until 2025 as the prize works off a retrospective calendar year)
And when I read it was largely set in 1992 Cambridge University (I was there 1986-1990) and flicking through for references came across this description of Justin the boyfriend of the close third party narrator
I simply had to buy it as I was also at Churchill.
The book itself proved a very intelligently written and beautifully crafted exploration of literary fiction and literary biography itself (and in particular the life and writings of Joseph Conrad) combined with an examination of unbelonging and grief.
Helen lived in Tasmania (her mother’s home state) since ten but was always seen something of an outsider and “mainlander� at school (unlike her brothers whose sporting prowess leads them to quickly be assimilated), at home settles into solitary reading and studying (other than early morning chess games with her father) and leaves to study in Melbourne before doing a PhD at Cambridge on Conrad: Cryptomodernism and Empire � finding though that she is perhaps more interested in imagining Conrad’s life and producing a manuscript which is “not a serious [one], not a true biography, but fragments of life intersected by literary-critical notations� � a manuscript she then loses on a train.
Justin is doing a thesis on “Thatcherised labour � wages, conditions, a post Kenseyian analysis� � which interestingly is not a million miles from the interests of my Econometrician sponsor/supervisor for the project on my Cambridge post-graduate in Statistics. He is as confident as Helen is unsure, as outwardly arrogant as she is inwardly reflective � but Helen is taken in by her attraction to him and blinded to the latent violence in him until she witnesses him with playfully but violently strangle a woman at a pub gathering and breaks up with him. Later he confronts her at her college halls and when an elderly porter tries to intervene punches him � later she finds the porter had a heart attack only a few days later but keeps the knowledge of the attack hidden.
The death of her father � from a sudden heart attack � means Helen loses the impetus for her studies and takes up digs in North Cambridge, working as a hotel cleaner while she reassembles her notes and musings on Conrad.
Her main other Cambridge friend is a fellow Whitsteadean � Anuradha originally from Bradford, and the friendship and relationship the two strike is one of the novel’s highlights.
But this is only around half the novel � the other half is filled with beautifully evocative details of Conrad’s life as rendered by Helen (from the death of his parents, to some other formative childhood experiences, his suicide attempt in France, his many sea voyages and traumatic time in the Congo, and then his settling and marriage in England) and his writing (many stories are summarised and linked to Conrad’s experiences). I must admit I knew very little of either Conrad’s biography or bibliography (although the “Secret Sharer� was I realised a short story I studied at school) and found the level of concise detail here � particularly with the layer of rich imagining placed over it � far more satisfactory than a conventional biography.
Towards the book’s end Helen’s manuscript is returned but this leads to a return of encounter with Justin and what I felt was an overly melodramatic incident but overall this was a really welcome find.
This 2024 published book hit all three criteria (although will not be eligible for the Stella Prize until 2025 as the prize works off a retrospective calendar year)
And when I read it was largely set in 1992 Cambridge University (I was there 1986-1990) and flicking through for references came across this description of Justin the boyfriend of the close third party narrator
He was at Churchill College: modern, boxy and slightly out of town, suffering the condescension of the older colleges and full of Commonwealth colonials, doomed by English opinion to be already second-rate. Helen was at Newnham, the women's college, with its garden of fat rosy blossoms and its neat rectangular windows. She lived at Whitstead, the college residence where illustrious Sylvia Plath had stayed for fifteen months.
I simply had to buy it as I was also at Churchill.
The book itself proved a very intelligently written and beautifully crafted exploration of literary fiction and literary biography itself (and in particular the life and writings of Joseph Conrad) combined with an examination of unbelonging and grief.
Helen lived in Tasmania (her mother’s home state) since ten but was always seen something of an outsider and “mainlander� at school (unlike her brothers whose sporting prowess leads them to quickly be assimilated), at home settles into solitary reading and studying (other than early morning chess games with her father) and leaves to study in Melbourne before doing a PhD at Cambridge on Conrad: Cryptomodernism and Empire � finding though that she is perhaps more interested in imagining Conrad’s life and producing a manuscript which is “not a serious [one], not a true biography, but fragments of life intersected by literary-critical notations� � a manuscript she then loses on a train.
Justin is doing a thesis on “Thatcherised labour � wages, conditions, a post Kenseyian analysis� � which interestingly is not a million miles from the interests of my Econometrician sponsor/supervisor for the project on my Cambridge post-graduate in Statistics. He is as confident as Helen is unsure, as outwardly arrogant as she is inwardly reflective � but Helen is taken in by her attraction to him and blinded to the latent violence in him until she witnesses him with playfully but violently strangle a woman at a pub gathering and breaks up with him. Later he confronts her at her college halls and when an elderly porter tries to intervene punches him � later she finds the porter had a heart attack only a few days later but keeps the knowledge of the attack hidden.
The death of her father � from a sudden heart attack � means Helen loses the impetus for her studies and takes up digs in North Cambridge, working as a hotel cleaner while she reassembles her notes and musings on Conrad.
Her main other Cambridge friend is a fellow Whitsteadean � Anuradha originally from Bradford, and the friendship and relationship the two strike is one of the novel’s highlights.
But this is only around half the novel � the other half is filled with beautifully evocative details of Conrad’s life as rendered by Helen (from the death of his parents, to some other formative childhood experiences, his suicide attempt in France, his many sea voyages and traumatic time in the Congo, and then his settling and marriage in England) and his writing (many stories are summarised and linked to Conrad’s experiences). I must admit I knew very little of either Conrad’s biography or bibliography (although the “Secret Sharer� was I realised a short story I studied at school) and found the level of concise detail here � particularly with the layer of rich imagining placed over it � far more satisfactory than a conventional biography.
Towards the book’s end Helen’s manuscript is returned but this leads to a return of encounter with Justin and what I felt was an overly melodramatic incident but overall this was a really welcome find.
March 9, 2024
Gail Jones� One Another is a beautifully written book. It is a short read that I was very taken with.
It is set in 1992 at Cambridge and focuses on Helen, an Australian student, who is at Newenham College doing a PhD thesis on Joseph Conrad. It also features her grubby, boozy boyfriend, Justin, a fellow Australian, who was at Churchill College; a rather grim, not aesthetically pleasing college.
I was absorbed by this book from the outset. Its focus on both Conrad’s life and on Helen’s was both intriguing and engaging.
Helen lived in Tasmania from the time she was ten. She was seen as others by an outsider; a mainlander. Her sporty brothers, described at one point by Helen as benign, were seen otherwise and fitted in better. She, a solitary child who read a lot, enjoyed having chess games with her dad in the early hours. She heads off to study in Melbourne before she goes to Cambridge.
Helen loses her PhD manuscript on a train. Boozy Justin is not remotely sympathetic. I would have booted him into the middle of next week if I were Helen!
Justin’s thesis is on Thatchersed Labour. He loves frequenting working class pubs. He is a cocky and arrogant git, whereas Helen is an unsure and uncertain person. Yet she is attracted to this vainglorious lout. She breaks up with him after she witnesses him physically abusing a woman at a pub, strangling her. The hallmark of a domestic violence perpetrator! Later, Justin challenges her at her college. An elderly porter who is in poor health tries to defend her. Justin punches him.
Helen’s dad dies unexpectedly of a heart attack in her second year at Cambridge whilst playing chess. One of her brothers thinks it’s bizarre when she asks what chess piece her dad was holding when he died. The other puts her question down to jet lag. Helen abandons her studies, distraught at her dad’s death, and takes up rooms . She works as a cleaner in a hotel . She collates her Conrad notes together again. She forms a close friendship with another Cambridge student, Anuradhu.
A fair bit of the book focuses on Conrad: his life, the early death of his parents, and his marriage, which is very interesting. Helen”s imaginings about Conrad also feature strongly.
Helen’s manuscript is eventually restored to her. This results in her dramatically meeting up with Justin again.
I loved reading this wonderfully written and absorbing book. I highly recommend it to others.
It is set in 1992 at Cambridge and focuses on Helen, an Australian student, who is at Newenham College doing a PhD thesis on Joseph Conrad. It also features her grubby, boozy boyfriend, Justin, a fellow Australian, who was at Churchill College; a rather grim, not aesthetically pleasing college.
I was absorbed by this book from the outset. Its focus on both Conrad’s life and on Helen’s was both intriguing and engaging.
Helen lived in Tasmania from the time she was ten. She was seen as others by an outsider; a mainlander. Her sporty brothers, described at one point by Helen as benign, were seen otherwise and fitted in better. She, a solitary child who read a lot, enjoyed having chess games with her dad in the early hours. She heads off to study in Melbourne before she goes to Cambridge.
Helen loses her PhD manuscript on a train. Boozy Justin is not remotely sympathetic. I would have booted him into the middle of next week if I were Helen!
Justin’s thesis is on Thatchersed Labour. He loves frequenting working class pubs. He is a cocky and arrogant git, whereas Helen is an unsure and uncertain person. Yet she is attracted to this vainglorious lout. She breaks up with him after she witnesses him physically abusing a woman at a pub, strangling her. The hallmark of a domestic violence perpetrator! Later, Justin challenges her at her college. An elderly porter who is in poor health tries to defend her. Justin punches him.
Helen’s dad dies unexpectedly of a heart attack in her second year at Cambridge whilst playing chess. One of her brothers thinks it’s bizarre when she asks what chess piece her dad was holding when he died. The other puts her question down to jet lag. Helen abandons her studies, distraught at her dad’s death, and takes up rooms . She works as a cleaner in a hotel . She collates her Conrad notes together again. She forms a close friendship with another Cambridge student, Anuradhu.
A fair bit of the book focuses on Conrad: his life, the early death of his parents, and his marriage, which is very interesting. Helen”s imaginings about Conrad also feature strongly.
Helen’s manuscript is eventually restored to her. This results in her dramatically meeting up with Justin again.
I loved reading this wonderfully written and absorbing book. I highly recommend it to others.
December 28, 2024
If you are a fan, or interested in the work of Joseph Conrad, this book will be one for your to read. It is a book that connects Helen at Cambridge writing her thesis about “Cryptomodernism and Empire� in the published works of Joseph Conrad, with Conrad’s own timeline. The connection of these two lives is the foundation for the story of Helen, who loses her thesis manuscript and enters into a toxic relationship with Justin. Helen and Conrad are two lives that never meet, yet there are so many paths that cross over between them. It is the passages that their lives take that resonate, while being alone in a world full of others.
The life of Joseph Conrad is explored and woven through each chapter, in a way where something it is hard to see where the flow of events stops and Helen’s begin. It is a deconstruction of his timeline, while a construction of Helen’s in real time. The narrative moves between them, reconstructing fragments of Conrad’s life and works, while narrating Helen’s attempts to write her thesis in the middle of her relationship with Justin, and other relationships with Lucy and Anuradha and her family. It is in these relationships that we witness loss and sorrow, the emptiness of friendships, and horrific and unapologetic violence. Helen risks the loss of the small number of friendships and connection because of Justin. Losing her thesis, her father and her place at Cambridge, and alienated from those who cared for her is a tough hit to her self-esteem.
There is a lot to absorb in this shortish book, so it will pay to stay focused. The detail is beautiful and full of images to fill the mind. The way relationships are explored, especially that of Helen and her father who dies in this story are hauntingly beautiful; even Joseph Conrad’s relationship with his parents are explored in refined detail.
The life of Joseph Conrad is explored and woven through each chapter, in a way where something it is hard to see where the flow of events stops and Helen’s begin. It is a deconstruction of his timeline, while a construction of Helen’s in real time. The narrative moves between them, reconstructing fragments of Conrad’s life and works, while narrating Helen’s attempts to write her thesis in the middle of her relationship with Justin, and other relationships with Lucy and Anuradha and her family. It is in these relationships that we witness loss and sorrow, the emptiness of friendships, and horrific and unapologetic violence. Helen risks the loss of the small number of friendships and connection because of Justin. Losing her thesis, her father and her place at Cambridge, and alienated from those who cared for her is a tough hit to her self-esteem.
There is a lot to absorb in this shortish book, so it will pay to stay focused. The detail is beautiful and full of images to fill the mind. The way relationships are explored, especially that of Helen and her father who dies in this story are hauntingly beautiful; even Joseph Conrad’s relationship with his parents are explored in refined detail.
March 23, 2024
Helen is completing her thesis at Cambridge on Joseph Conrad. It is 1992. She is distracted by a charming yet dangerous lover and is struggling withe material, especially after she loses her draft, which she is doing long hand, preferring that over the use of computers. The story alternates between Helen's real world, and the world of Joseph Conrad's as she is going over his writings and those about him. Her post graduate supervisor that year was a dour old man, who she felt was very encouraging feeling he resembled Buster Keaton: expressionless, mute and imperturbable. It didn't help that on his desk was a crime novel y EW Hornung, one of her Father's favourite authors. One of her better friends, Anurandha, is a woman from more substantial means than Helen's family, who is studying Van Diemen's Land convict and Chartist hero,William Cuffray, whom Helen has never heard of. Helen realizes they are both pendants, both collectors of stories and life sinpppet and historical observances. Several encounters while with her lover makes her realize she must break off with as the charm he displayed was being replaced by his true violent side, hurting people around her. This leads to serious harm to folks she has befriended. This, along with her loss of her draft thesis, and a loss of confidence leads her to announce to her supervisor that she cannot continue her thesis and will leave school. He half-hearted asks her to reconsider. She stays in town until the end of term, finding a new place to live and a job, while she tries to assess what her next move will be and how to tell her parents. As the dust jacket so eloquently puts it, this novel traverses the borders between art and life, between life and death, in a journey through literary history and emotional landscapes.
April 9, 2024
This is the first work of Gail jones that I have read. An interesting novel about an Australian academic (Helen Ross) in Cambridge in 1992, doing a doctoral thesis on Joseph Conrad. Although the famous author features strongly, this book is more about Helen and her journey through Thatcher’s England and her own self-discovery.
We find early on that Helen has lost her written work on Conrad on a train. She is also becoming a little disillusioned about her studies and finally decides to abandon her scholarship. This also coincides with her disillusion with her boyfriend, another Aussie. We piece together a little of the life of Joseph Conrad and his trials and many illnesses.
So, a good read, one without chapters, which takes some getting used to. Many years ago I read ‘Heart of Darkness� and, of course, saw ‘Apocalypse Now�, so may investigate Conrad further.
We find early on that Helen has lost her written work on Conrad on a train. She is also becoming a little disillusioned about her studies and finally decides to abandon her scholarship. This also coincides with her disillusion with her boyfriend, another Aussie. We piece together a little of the life of Joseph Conrad and his trials and many illnesses.
So, a good read, one without chapters, which takes some getting used to. Many years ago I read ‘Heart of Darkness� and, of course, saw ‘Apocalypse Now�, so may investigate Conrad further.
April 15, 2024
A coincidence that my two bookclubs simultaneously chose bikes by Gail Jones. This was read second and reinforced my view. Good writing that jumps about too much for no clear reader benefit. For some reason (Apocalypse Now I guess) I like Conrad the writer (though know little) and found this part of the book interesting. But as a journey for a reader it failed for me. The writing though skilled does not evoke interest or care for the main character (Helen). As a reader you push on but gain very little. As per the other book (Our Shadows) there seems to be an alignment between the journeys of the famous person story (Conrad) and the main character (Helen) but the sum of the parts doesn't exceed their total but diminished it for me. After two struggles, I can only say that I'm not the audience the Jones is writing for.
not-finished
October 24, 2024I have been trying to read this novel in snatches of time between visitors and other commitments. It hasn't worked for me. I'm an admirer of Gail Jones work and was looking forward to this new novel.
The novel seems to be about identity and loss. It's also about literature - specifically Joseph Conrad's work, which the character Helen is studying for her thesis at Cambridge. I have read some of Conrad's work but so long ago now (more than 50 years) and my main memory is of Chinua Achebe's later criticism of Conrad as racist.
The novel seems very fragmented to me - moving between Helen's and Conrad's lives. I couldn't find a reading foothold, so to speak. It was probably just my lack of concentrated time.
I hope to return to it at another time as I see others - and critics - have thought highly of it.
The novel seems to be about identity and loss. It's also about literature - specifically Joseph Conrad's work, which the character Helen is studying for her thesis at Cambridge. I have read some of Conrad's work but so long ago now (more than 50 years) and my main memory is of Chinua Achebe's later criticism of Conrad as racist.
The novel seems very fragmented to me - moving between Helen's and Conrad's lives. I couldn't find a reading foothold, so to speak. It was probably just my lack of concentrated time.
I hope to return to it at another time as I see others - and critics - have thought highly of it.
August 13, 2024
Set in the 1990s, Helen is completing a PhD on the writer Joseph Conrad when she loses the manuscript...and her life begins to unravel. Written in parallel stories - Helen's life in Oxford, and Conrad's life from Ukraine to Poland to London and his world travels. I found the Conrad story the more interesting of the two (though much of it was his life as imagined by Helen) as I felt that Helen needed a good talking to! Such an annoying character and my sympathy for her waned the longer the story went on, especially her inability to get out of the toxic relationship she was in. An ambitious novel which Gail Jones almost pulls off until the end when my frustration overwhelmed the storyline. Perhaps unfair as I enjoyed most of the book....
July 11, 2024
This book is a stream of consciousness as the protagonist, Helen focusses on events in her own life, her childhood, relationship with her father, various boyfriends remind her of events in the life of author Joseph Conrad. Helen is researching and writing about Conrad for a PHD at Cambridge, her manuscript is lost, and she is reliant on index cards to try to reconstruct her thesis. Her thoughts roam jumping back and forth between events in her own life and Conrad's.
Gail Jones is a beautiful writer, and I enjoyed her prose but found the narrative difficult to engage with. Probably says more about me than the book.
Gail Jones is a beautiful writer, and I enjoyed her prose but found the narrative difficult to engage with. Probably says more about me than the book.
March 29, 2024
One Another (2024) is the tenth novel by the Australian author Gail Jones, which tells the story of Helen, an Australian student studying at Cambridge in 1992 who loses her thesis on Joseph Conrad after accidentally leaving it on a train.
The attraction of Jones's work lies in its fiercely intellectual approach, with the narrative exploring how Conrad's life and work echoes Helen's own biography, an exercise in convergence that works fairly well in this novel.
I'm still not entirely sold on Jones as a novelist, as I feel the academic side too greatly overshadows her storytelling abilities, but I did like One Another nonetheless.
The attraction of Jones's work lies in its fiercely intellectual approach, with the narrative exploring how Conrad's life and work echoes Helen's own biography, an exercise in convergence that works fairly well in this novel.
I'm still not entirely sold on Jones as a novelist, as I feel the academic side too greatly overshadows her storytelling abilities, but I did like One Another nonetheless.
April 9, 2024
Unless you are interested in biography speculations of the author Joseph Conrad, give this one a miss..
I enjoyed a previous book, Noah Glass, but if I hadn’t been using this a a ‘listen in the car book� I would not have finished it.
The narrator as ‘victim� throughout the book is tiring and her solace in studying/obsessing about Joseph Conrad does not seem the best anecdote to her miserable life. It isn’t just men she is weak against - even an elderly landlady has power over her.
I enjoyed a previous book, Noah Glass, but if I hadn’t been using this a a ‘listen in the car book� I would not have finished it.
The narrator as ‘victim� throughout the book is tiring and her solace in studying/obsessing about Joseph Conrad does not seem the best anecdote to her miserable life. It isn’t just men she is weak against - even an elderly landlady has power over her.
August 20, 2024
I've read most of Gail Joneses books and enjoyed them but I didn't finish this one. I found the jumping between the main character Helens life and her imaginary retelling of Joseph Conrad's life to be tiresome . Helen herself was for me a annoying drifter . No idea why she put up with that awful boyfriend. As I didn't finish the book I don't know if she woke up to herself and left him.
.
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February 6, 2025
It's lyrical, thought-provoking, and melancholy. It is partly the story of a young Australian woman at Cambridge in the early 90s, and partly about the life of Joseph Conrad, about whom she was writing her thesis. I have a hard time reading about young women who don't take advantage of their extraordinary opportunities (Cambridge!) so while I don't at all mind a lack of resolution, the wastage, and the fact that I am not that interested in Joseph Conrad kept me from enjoying this to the full.
April 26, 2024
This latest book is a disappointment. The main character is so obsessed with Joseph Conrad that she doesn’t really live her own life Rather she fantasises about his The text jumps between the two main characters of the story in a confusing manner Despite the literary cleverness of the writing overall it is a depressing read
July 1, 2024
There are some novels which leave me with a feeling of satisfaction at a story well told and characters sympathetically depicted. I like to feel drawn in and involved with the narrative, experiencing the twists and turns of the story and empathising with each of the people. In other words, the author should make me care what happens to their characters.
This book did none of those things.
This book did none of those things.
March 18, 2024
3 stars only because I have actually ploughed on to finish listening. A first disappointment from a favourite author. Too many fragments, jumping from one thread to another. Who was the editor ? More Helen and less Joseph, would have been my suggestion.
July 1, 2024
I wanted to like this book more than I did. This book has some beautiful prose, although the maritime and sea symbolism feels over-loaded. However, I felt removed from the characters and the plot twists seem contrived. Overall, a disappointing read from an author I've read before.
October 12, 2024
An interwoven story of Helen, an Australian studying literature Cambridge, and Joseph Conrad who she was studying through her PhD. Their lives intersect at various points including Helen’s dislocation from her family and her home state of Tasmania, a similar dislocation for Joseph Conrad as well.
March 11, 2024
All the components I love were there, but it just didn't come together for me!
This is a short book, and should have been a short read, but it literally took days (very unusual for me). Hard going.
This is a short book, and should have been a short read, but it literally took days (very unusual for me). Hard going.
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