An audacious, profound, and engrossing masterpiece.
It is safe to say that Hanya Yanagihara’s second novel, A Little Life, set the world on fire. Controversial both in terms of content and structure, it was almost impossible to ignore. The literary world has waited impatiently for her next offering, and To Paradise has finally arrived.
Yanagihara is not scared of writing a large novel. Both The People in the Trees (her first published novel) and A Little Life were sizeable tomes, and To Paradise continues the trend with 700 pages.
Divided into three books, it covers a period of 200 years: Washington Square is set in 1893, Lipo-Wao-Nahele is set in 1993, and Zone Eight is set in 2093. But this is no cosy cradle-to-grave family saga. There are threads which hold the three books together: thematic ones, obviously, but also a certain house in Washington Square, the same names across the years, and the repetition of certain types of narratives.
The reader is aware at the outset that Yanagihara has once again delivered something extraordinary. Her New York of 1893 is mostly historically recognizable. The Union has still won the war, but in To Paradise, it is referred to as the War of Rebellion, and the Confederate states have seceded. The land mass of America is divided into separate countries: The United Colonies, The Western Union, The American Union, The Republic of Maine, and The Free States. New York is situated in The Free States and is proud of its seemingly liberal political framework—in particular, its open acceptance of same-sex marriage, and its generally liberated attitude towards women’s rights. We follow the story of David, whose wealthy grandfather is trying to arrange a marriage for him, to a very nice man, while David himself is chasing the enigmatic, but unreliable Edward.
In 1993 Yanagihara settles us partly in New York again, but then takes us on a journey to Hawai’i, delving into her own background for richness of detail. Hawai’i has long been culturally appropriated by, not just the United States, but the entire world. Yanagihara delivers a long overdue socio-historic rewriting of the Hawaiian story. David has a loving relationship with his partner Charles, but is pulled emotionally by his background as heir to the Hawaiian Kingdom. He has told Charles his father is dead, when in fact he is living in a nursing facility, having suffered a breakdown. The reader then becomes party to the unwritten thoughts and memories of David’s father, his failure to live up to his own father’s reputation, and his move to a Utopian community in the north of O’ahu.
In 2093, Washington Square is now in Zone Eight. A series of deadly pandemics has rocked the world, and in particular the north-east of America (and lest Yanagihara be accused of band-wagoning, she began this work long before COVID!). We move from 2093, to 2043, and back again, gradually closing up the temporal gap. Charlie is a young woman working in a laboratory, in an arranged marriage with a gay man, having been rendered sterile by disease and treatment during her childhood.
Despite possibly sounding like a grab-bag of ideas, themes, and settings, To Paradise holds together beautifully. It asks profound questions: Who gets to write our history? How much free choice is really involved in who we love? How do we balance the needs of the individual with those of the collective? What sacrifices go into unconditional love? And ultimately, what is Paradise? This latter is looked at through the prism of the American experiment, but the themes are universal.
This is a work of breadth, certainly, but also one of intimacy. Domestic minutiae is given its rightful place in our consciousness, and Yanagihara once again proves that she is one of the best contemporary writers of relationships.
To Paradise is a serious work. It is beautiful, moving, profound and profane. It will take over your life during the time that you are reading it.
And change it once you have finished.
Reviewed by Tracey Korsten
Twitter: @TraceyKorsten
This review is the opinion of the reviewer and not Glam Adelaide.
Distributed by: Pan Macmillan Australia
Released: January 2022
RRP: $32.99
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