The Tower by Thea Lenarduzzi
| The Tower by Thea Lenarduzzi | |
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| Category: Literary Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Heather Magee
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| Summary: Highly original, honest and refreshing. Lenarduzzi finds a way to write with precision about the coarse inexactitudes within her own mind. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 248 | Date: October 2025 |
| Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1804271797 | |
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How unctuous are the fats of another's life, how dizzying their sugars in our bloodstream.
In this compelling novel, Thea Lenarduzzi assumes the identity of T, the protagonist of this tale. Just as T's story is being told, the story of a second protagonist is unveiled: Annie, the daughter of a wealthy family in the 19th century, who died of tuberculosis after being locked in a tower, captures T's imagination. Annie's fate is, above all, an enticing story to T. It is a story which she consumes avariciously, both in a quest for truth and knowledge, and in service of myth, fable and fantasy.
In an interview with John Berger, Susan Sontag spoke in 1983 of the ambiguity of the word "story". Curiously, it implies both an idea of truth-seeking and an idea of invention. T's story sits uncomfortably at the intersection of both, as she tries to make sense of the evidence which she has compiled concerning Annie's supposed tragedy. The reader becomes indirectly involved in the research and groundwork as T investigates the facts of the case mingled with her own theories. In fact, at first the book reads like a mystery novel, with T playing the role of detective, gradually uncovering details about her subject's life. As the mystery unfolds, however, the concept of the story is complicated further. T must acknowledge her own stakes in this story in a moment of confrontation which treads the line between cathartic and strained.
Thea Lenarduzzi's own writing complicates the act of storytelling, too. Her narrator acting as her double often self-consciously nods to the 3rd person narration, referring to George Orwell's personal diary written in the 3rd person. In a very meta way, Thea documents through T the act of research just as much as T's process of writing this book. She explained that she was researching a book about storytelling, about why certain people were drawn to certain stories. T's plans for the book's themes and touch points seem to shift, grow and recede in real time, so that the reader has the impression of reading a very honest, curiously accomplished draft of the novel. The erudite edits left in, the author explaining her own process. This transparency creates a complicity between writer and reader which allows for a dialogue interrogating T's own reasons for telling Annie's story, as well as questioning the place Annie occupies in her own life.
T is protective over Annie, in a way that she compares to the nurturing impulse she feels towards her daughter. The idea of Annie is also a source of fiery imagination and emotion for T. When T begins to lose control over Annie's story, she feels lost. She asks herself who, or what, would then come, unbidden, to take Annie's place?. T explains this as horror vacui, the compulsion to fill spaces, time, silence, because we want to climb higher rather than fall in.
Her desperation, at first difficult to comprehend, begins to take shape in the final section of the book. It comes unexpectedly, becoming suddenly personal after so much distance created by T's doubling. An episode from Lenarduzzi's early life comes plummeting into the narrative, a great big lump in the throat that is suddenly, painfully swallowed. Lenarduzzi, now writing in the first person, begins to plunge into memory, all of a sudden unravelling and revealing herself, moved by the urge to re-member as she puts it: to piece yourself back together from memories.
It becomes clear why Lenarduzzi uses T to tell this story. In many ways, creating this narrative distance was the least duplicitous thing she could have done. In doing so, Lenarduzzi was being vulnerable, and reconciling perspectives that had warred within her for so long. This book serves to untangle, to comb out the knots that have been jammed into the fragile tresses of memory. It is one of the most beautifully and articulately written books I have read in a long time, and I would highly recommend it.
I'd like to thank the publisher for sending an ARC of this book. For another book exploring the interplay between identity and memory, read Wreaking by James Scudamore.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Tower by Thea Lenarduzzi at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free. (Paid link)
You can read more book reviews or buy The Tower by Thea Lenarduzzi at Amazon.com. (Paid link)
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